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Grossi oversteps authority by talking about freeze of Ukraine conflict — Russian MFA

The Russian diplomats also said that IAEA experts will stay at the ZNPP as long as Russia deems their presence there necessary

MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi’s statements about a potential freeze of the conflict in Ukraine are unacceptable, as they go beyond the scope of his authority, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The diplomats pointed "to the unacceptable statements" made by Grossi in an interview with the German news agency dpa on the conditions faced by representatives of the IAEA Secretariat at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). "In particular, he suggested that representatives would stay at the plant until the potential freezing of the conflict. It is absolutely inexplicable on what grounds the IAEA leadership is assessing the prospects of this notorious 'freeze,' which is clearly beyond its authority," the statement said.

"We expect the director general to present the situation accurately going forward, without distorting the legal basis for the presence of the IAEA Secretariat experts at the ZNPP or overstepping his mandate," the ministry added.

The Russian diplomats also said that IAEA experts will stay at the ZNPP as long as Russia deems their presence there necessary. "We reiterate that the Secretariat's experts are at the ZNPP at the request of the director general himself, exclusively with the consent of the Russian government and strictly as long as our country considers their stay there justified," the ministry pointed out.

"It is also outrageous that, according to the director general's submission, the Secretariat, at its own discretion, determines the order and conditions of the stay of its experts at the ZNPP. This is absolutely not the case," the ministry concluded.

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