MELITOPOL, November 18. /TASS/. A resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urging Russia to abandon the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) is biased and politically motivated, Vladimir Rogov, chairman of the We Are Together with Russia movement, told TASS on Friday.
"This is a politically motivated, biased and unprofessional statement. If we look at the list of those who made this decision, it is logical and predictable because among 35 countries that make up the IAEA Board of Governors, we do see those countries that voted against, abstained or did not vote," he said.
The politician noted that voting on the IAEA resolution depends on the level of sovereignty of the countries on the Board of Governors and their readiness to deal with the US’ and UK’s reaction if they support Russia. "Practically every country that voted for the outlandish wording such as Russia’s "baseless claims" are the countries that introduced sanctions against us, fight us and try to make our life worse. It’s not surprising that they did it again. Yet the decision itself is absolutely worthless," he added.
On Thursday, the IAEA approved a new resolution on the Zaporozhye nuclear plant urging Russia "to immediately abandon its baseless claims of ownership of the plant." Russia and China voted against this resolution while India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, South Africa, Kenya and Namibia abstained from voting.
In September, the IAEA Board of Governors approved a resolution calling on Russia to withdraw troops from the nuclear plant’s premises. That resolution was supported by 26 countries with seven abstaining.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe. Russia took control of it at the end of February during its special military operation. Currently the plant’s six energy units have been switched to cold shutdown mode since the facility was being regularly shelled by Ukrainian troops. In September, following a visit by the IAEA’s mission, the agency urged the creation of a security zone around the plant to prevent emergency situations due to hostilities. Currently, the discussion of the security zone’s geographic parameters is underway.