Macron announced negotiations on russian equipment withdrawal from ZNPP, meanwhile russia denies any presence
Фото: Reuters
French President Emmanuel Macron announced an agreement on the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant captured by the russian invaders.
He said this on the sidelines of an international conference in support of Ukraine in the winter period, Reuters reports.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, also arrived in Paris for the conference and held a meeting with the IAEA head, Raphael Grossi. The main issue of this meeting was also the demilitarization of Zaporizhzhia NPP.
Photo: Reuters
Grossi said that in the near future, the IAEA would send permanent technical missions to all nuclear plants in Ukraine. They must secure the stations and record all possible attempts of external influence, in particular, shelling by russian troops.
Photo: Reuters
In his turn, Macron noted that negotiations are currently ongoing regarding the terms of the withdrawal of weapons.
"We managed to protect Chornobyl, and our goal is to protect Zaporizhzhia. The coming weeks will be decisive," Macron said.
Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, the spokesman of russia's president, Dmytro Peskov, declares that there were "never and are not" heavy weapons at the occupied ZNPP. He stated that russia "highly values the level of cooperation with the IAEA" on the issues of the ZNPP and is interested in continuing these contacts.
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of russia confirmed that negotiations are ongoing with the IAEA to create a "safety zone" around the Zaporizhzhia NPP. At the same time, the russian federation declared that it would not give control over the station to any other party.
Is there invaders' military equipment at the ZNPP?
Back in July, it became known that russian troops were bringing heavy equipment with all the ammunition to the territory of the ZNPP. And CNN journalists verified the footage, where russian military equipment is placed in the engine room connected to the nuclear reactor of the captured ZNPP.
The invaders placed this weapon near power unit No. 6, right next to the territory of the station's dry storage of spent nuclear fuel.
There the russians had previously built some "protective structures" in secret, violating all the conditions of the organization of nuclear and radiation safety.
We remind that Ukrainian specialists continue to work at the occupied station, despite the presence of Rosatom representatives and russian troops.
The aggressors do not stop provocations at the station and shelling the ZNPP. The situation at the ZNPP is also monitored by the IAEA representatives, who regularly report on the shelling of the plant and the tense situation.
