Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to allow independent inspectors to visit the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the French president said Friday. Stated.
According to French President Emmanuel Macron's office, Putin has "reconsidered" his request for the International Atomic Energy Agency to move to the Zaporizhia nuclear facility via Russia.
Rafael Grossi, head of the United Nations Nuclear Observatory, "welcomed the recent statement that both Ukraine and Russia supported the objectives of his IAEA mission."
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres threatened Moscow forces occupying Zaporizhia with the potential to disconnect the facility from the grid and supply electricity to millions of Ukrainians. requested not to block it.
Fighting rages around a Russian-controlled nuclear power plant, with both sides blaming each other for attacks, raising the prospect of a disaster more dire than Chernobyl.
The Kremlin said Putin and Macron had agreed that the IAEA would conduct an inspection "as soon as possible" to "assess the actual situation on the ground."
Putin also stressed that "a systematic shelling by Ukrainian forces on the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant creates the danger of large-scale catastrophe," the Kremlin added.
``Most tragic'' summer
The warning came a day after Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Guterres met in the western Ukraine city of Lviv. issued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the United Nations to secure the place.
"This summer may go down in the history of various European nations as one of the most tragic of all time," Zelensky said in his Friday evening speech.
"None of the world's nuclear power plants have instructions to provide procedures in the event that a terrorist state targets a nuclear power plant."
During the visit, the UN secretary-general said: "Clearly, electricity from Zaporizhia is Ukrainian electricity. This principle must be fully respected."
On Thursday, Moscow said Kyiv was preparing a "provocation" on the ground that would see Russia "accused of causing a man-made disaster at a factory." rice field.
But Kyiv claimed Moscow was planning a provocation and said Russian occupation forces had ordered most personnel to stay home on Friday.
The United States on Friday announced that it would invest $775 million in new US dollars, including precision-guided missiles for her HIMARS system that would allow Ukraine to hit Russian targets far behind the front lines. Announced weapons package.