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Kiev unprepared to pledge not to shell ZNPP — Russian envoy

"True, since November 20 [last year] the Ukrainians have stopped shelling the territory of the power plant, but they are not ready to make the corresponding pledge," Mikhail Ulyanov pointed out

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Ukraine is not ready to pledge and guarantee that it will not shell the territory of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on the Rossiya-24 television channel on Monday.

"The Ukrainians are required to do much less than we are - simply to confirm that they are taking a political obligation not to shell the plant. The Ukrainian side has problems with this," he said, referring to IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi’s initiative for ensuring safety at the ZNPP.

"True, since November 20 [last year] the Ukrainians have stopped shelling the territory of the power plant, but they are not ready to make the corresponding pledge," Ulyanov pointed out.

Work is now underway on a one-page document reflecting the main thing: "for protecting the ZNPP it is necessary to ensure there should be no attacks on the power plant or its territory."

"We have no problem with that," he stressed. "We do not conduct any military operations from the power plant’s territory against the Ukrainian side. Moreover, there are no combat army units there. There are units of radiation, chemical or biological protection forces, and the rest of the personnel are Rosgvardiya, which is a non-military force. There are no heavy weapons or ammunition at the power plant, either."

"We have no problems with supporting the postulate that there should be no attacks from the power plant’s territory," Ulyanov concluded.

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