MOSCOW, April 18. /TASS/. The West and Ukraine’s demands in the UN Security Council (UNSC) Russia should cede to them control of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP) are tantamount to nuclear blackmail, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told a news briefing.

She recalled that during the UNSC briefing on April 15, the Western countries addressed Russia with a corresponding demand.

"They literally exposed themselves and the regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky. Without noticing it themselves, they spoke the language of an ultimatum. Here is a direct quote: 'Hand over control over the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and then it will stop be shelled,'" Zakharova noted.

She pointed out that in this way Kiev and its Western allies "confirmed that they indulge in blackmail."

"But there is one noteworthy nuance - it is nuclear blackmail," Zakharova said.

"They not only publicly admitted that Ukraine is a source of threats to the power plant’s security and safety, but also actually confessed their complicity in dangerous attacks on this facility," Zakharova pointed out. She stressed that this briefing at the UN Security Council "clearly demonstrated that the US-led collective West continues to create a so-called halo of permissiveness around Ukraine and turns a blind eye on any crimes by the Kiev regime against the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and its personnel."