MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin so far isn’t planning to communicate with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
"No, the president’s schedule doesn’t have any such communication so far," he said. The spokesman said "diplomats and Rosatom and the relevant agencies continue to engage with Mr. Grossi."
The IAEA said in a statement on Friday that Grossi plans to continue consultations with both Ukraine and Russia in the coming days and weeks to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. He said everybody agrees that the plant needs to be protected, but the talks are very complex.
An IAEA mission led by Grossi traveled to the station in September and left several agency employees there as observers. Afterward, the agency published a report calling for the establishment of a safety zone around the ZNPP to prevent accidents arising from hostilities. Grossi has been holding talks with Russian and Ukrainian officials to advance the idea. He traveled to St. Petersburg on October 11 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On December 2 Grossi said at an international conference in Rome that the agreement to set up a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant could be reached soon.
The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, located in the city of Energodar, has the capacity of about 6 GW and is Europe’s largest. It has been controlled by Russian troops since the end of February 2022. Since then, Ukrainian army units sometimes shell both residential areas of Energodar and the nuclear power plant area, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems.