MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are maintaining a constructive and professional dialogue on the protection of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Russia’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said on Monday.
"The IAEA director general [Rafael Grossi] doesn’t have any serious problems with us; we are maintaining a constructive and professional conversation on this topic. He is adjusting his proposals concerning the ZNPP’s nuclear and physical security," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.
Thus, in his words, the IAEA chief has removed the word "zone" from his proposal on the ZNPP’s security as it "has a territorial aspect" and "may hinder Kiev from making a positive decision" on the issue of the nuke plant’s security.
Grossi visited the Zaporozhye NPP on March 29. He inspected plant facilities that had been damaged in shelling attacks by Ukrainian troops. In particular, he could see the site between the coolant reservoirs at the fourth power unit that had been hit by a Ukrainian rocket. It was Grossi’s second visit to the ZNPP in the past six months (his first visit took place on September 1, 2022). On March 27, the IAEA chief visited the Dnieper hydropower plant where he met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.