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Grossi forced to cut short visit to ZNPP due to Kiev's provocations — Russian mission

According to the note verbale, the Ukrainian side "refused to guarantee the ceasefire regime for the entire originally planned period of Rafael Grossi's stay"

VIENNA, February 12. /TASS/. Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi had to shorten his stay at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) during his visit last week due to provocations by the Ukrainian side, Russia’s permanenet mission to organizations in Vienna said.

"In accordance with the established 'tradition,' the visit was accompanied by provocative actions of the Ukrainian side, which refused to guarantee the ceasefire regime for the entire originally planned period of Rafael Grossi's stay and transportation of the IAEA delegation to the plant and back. As a result, the director general's stay at the ZNPP was significantly shortened. Thus, he was not able to visit all the premises and facilities of the plant originally planned," the mission said in a note verbale sent to the IAEA Secretariat for further dissemination among the members of the organization.

Last week, the IAEA chief visited the Zaporozhye NPP for the fourth time. Grossi was accompanied by the newest group of rotating inspectors, consisting of four IAEA nuclear safety experts, which is the 16th such team to serve at the ZNPP.

The IAEA chief also announced his intention to visit Moscow, and Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Russia's Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, said he expected to meet Grossi in person soon.

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