VIENNA, April 12. /TASS/. The West covers up Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) for political reasons, which it prioritizes over nuclear security, Russian Permanent Envoy to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.
"It’s a difficult situation. The West is standing united and de facto covers up any actions of Kiev. I said at the meeting that considerations of political conjuncture are more important for Westerners than nuclear safety, which they care so much about in words. De facto - yes, this is more important for them," he told reporters after an extraordinary meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.
"I called on my Western colleagues, if they are afraid to talk about this publicly, at least through bilateral channels they should eventually tell the Ukrainians off. Those who have a certain influence on Kiev could well do this, but, by all indications, they do not," Ulyanov added.
"It was important for the Ukrainians, it seems to me, to switch attention from the shelling of the station to a wider range of related issues. And the Western delegations acted in exactly the same way. From the threat to nuclear safety, which they mentioned briefly, their thoughts instantly flowed into completely different areas. ‘Russia must withdraw its military personnel from the NPP, from Ukraine.’ This is a broken record. Our Western opponents clearly have cribs, which were apparently drawn up in Brussels," the Russian diplomat said.
"I don’t expect anything grand from the event in New York. It will be the same there. The audience is slightly different, but the result is approximately the same as here: a useful discussion for us, highlighting what is happening. But no one except us will name Ukrainians as the guilty party," he said.
Over the past few days, Ukrainian troops attacked the NPP with drones almost on a daily basis. In that regard, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Raphael Grossi will address the UN Security Council meeting on April 15.