MINSK, October 1. /TASS/. Kiev spreads rumors of Belarus allegedly planning to take the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which are "utter rubbish," Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

While at a meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi in Minsk the Belarusian president pointed out that recently there have been claims coming from Ukraine that "Lukashenko wants to take the Chernobyl plant."

"I assure you, this is utter rubbish, which even caught me off-guard. We would never wish upon ourselves to have to ‘take’ the Chernobyl Power Plant and then be responsible for it. Belarus has no such necessity and you can trust me that neither does Russia," Lukashenko stressed, BelTA news agency cites.

The Belarusian president added that he does not understand "what the basis for it is and why Lukashenko needs the Chernobyl plant." We have already suffered enough from the aftermath of the power plant’s explosion, which, as it should be noted, was not built, maintained or destroyed by us, even though one fourth of our territory took most of the damage. We are still fighting the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster," he added.