WASHINGTON, August 18. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba held a telephone conversation discussing developments in regard to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (NPP) as well as US military aid for Ukraine, the US Department of State said in a statement citing its spokesperson Ned Price.
"The Secretary updated Foreign Minister Kuleba on U.S. deliveries of security assistance and condemned recent Russian actions in and around Ukraine’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant," Price said in the statement.
"Additionally, the Secretary reaffirmed the United States will continue to call for an end to all military operations at or near Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, the return of full control of these facilities to Ukraine, and Moscow to end its war of choice against its sovereign neighbor," the statement reads.
The Zaporozhye NPP is under the control of the Russian army. Over the last few days, the Kiev regime has delivered numerous strikes against the station’s territory, using drones, heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems. In most cases, the attacks are repelled by Russian air defense systems. However, some rockets hit the NPP’s infrastructural facilities, including nuclear waste storage sites.
The Zaporozhye NPP is the largest in Europe. It consists of six power units and has a capacity of about 6,000 MW. It used to generate a quarter of all electric power in Ukraine.
Currently, the NPP operates at 70% capacity as the area of the Zaporozhye Region liberated from the Ukrainian army has a surplus of electricity power.
Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine
The situation along the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.
On February 21, President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.
Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.