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Measures for ZNPP’s protection will not call into question Russia’s control — envoy

At the same time, Mikhail Ulyanov stressed that Ukraine’s constructive contribution was necessary for the consultations on the "protective zone" around the ZNPP to be effective

MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. The proposed measures for creating a "protective zone" around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) will not call into question Russia's control of the facility, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, told TASS on Wednesday.

"As for the parameters of possible agreements regarding the 'protective zone', it is too early to talk about them. These issues are a subject matter of negotiations," Ulyanov said. "But one can be certain that the proposed measures will definitely not call into question Russia's control of the ZNPP."

At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine’s constructive contribution was necessary for the consultations on the "protective zone" around the ZNPP to be effective. In the meantime, there was none.

"Ukraine’s massive shelling of the ZNPP last weekend testified to the need for urgent measures to ensure safety at this nuclear power plant. It is difficult to predict how long the consultations on creating a ‘protective zone’ there will last. Far from everything depends on the IAEA secretariat and Russia. Kiev’s constructive contribution is required. But there has been none so far," Ulyanov added.

The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, met with a delegation of the Rosatom state corporation headed by its CEO Alexey Likhachev in Istanbul on Wednesday for a discussion on measures to create a security zone around the ZNPP. Earlier, Grossi stated that the creation of a protective zone around the ZNPP was an absolutely realistic task. He stressed that he maintained a dialogue on this issue with Ukraine and Russia and the plan for creating a "protective zone" proposed by the IAEA included only nuclear safety-related clauses, since Moscow and Kiev were ready to cooperate on this basis.

The ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant operating in Europe. Russia took control of it on February 28, in the first days of the special military operation in Ukraine. In early September, the IAEA mission visited this facility. After its departure, some of the agency’s employees remained there in the capacity of observers. Later, the IAEA released a report calling for the creation of a security zone around the ZNPP to prevent hostilities-related accidents.