MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi will have to make further efforts to convince Kiev to support the agency's initiative to protect the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to the international organizations in Vienna, told TASS.
"As for the continuation of the negotiation process on the security of Zaporozhye NPP, the director general will apparently have to make further efforts to convince the Ukrainian side to reconsider its position and support Grossi's initiative," Ulyanov said, answering a question about the prospects for the negotiation process around the Zaporozhye NPP.
"Actually, in this case, Kiev is only required to confirm the inadmissibility of shelling this peaceful nuclear facility," the diplomat added.
Ulyanov noted that the consultations on this issue, which took place on April 5 during Grossi's visit to Kaliningrad, "were held in a businesslike and constructive manner."
"The agency’s Director General and Russian negotiators discussed possible steps to improve interaction at the "site" of the Zaporozhye NPP. Issues of current and future cooperation between Russia and the IAEA in other areas were also discussed," he said.
Grossi visited the Zaporozhye NPP on March 29. He inspected the plant facilities that had been damaged in Ukrainian shelling attacks. 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 nuclear power plant in the past six months (his first visit took place on September 1, 2022).
On April 5, the head of the IAEA visited Kaliningrad and discussed the security issues of the Zaporozhye NPP there with high-ranking representatives of several Russian agencies.