UNITED NATIONS, August 16. /TASS/. An IAEA mission to Zaporozhye nuclear plant from Kiev will be very risky as Ukraine’s security guarantees are ephemeral, a high-ranking Russian foreign ministry official said on Tuesday.
"Ukraine’s guarantees are ephemeral. What kind of guarantees Kiev can give if there various units that are not controlled by Kiev at all," Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of the ministry’s non-proliferation and arms control department, said.
"A visit from the Ukrainian side means that it will be responsible for its security. And what kind of security there can be when they shell the Zaporozhye nuclear plant and the city of Energodar. They (the Ukrainian side - TASS) can actually guarantee nothing. It means that the United Nations Department of Safety and Security can give no recommendations concerning the visit either," he said. "Even if, theoretically, [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky says he guarantees [the mission’s security], he cannot control his armed units and cannot exclude incidents. He cannot guarantee that all the mines will be cleared along the frontline," the diplomat noted. "It will be a visit across the frontline. A colossal risk for the international mission in any event."
According to Vishnevetsky, it is a key aspect of the entire mission. "We cannot put at risk the mission of international officials. The IAEA director plans to lead it himself," he stressed. "Initiatives coming from the United Nations are at least surprising. It is not the United Nations who will ensure security."
"The mission is to be escorted by a military convoy while crossing the frontline. Will it be a Ukrainian mission? Are we supposed to let Ukrainian military enter the territory we control? It is absurd," he said. "Such an initiative is very questionable.".