“The situation is serious,” the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told the UN Security Council on Thursday, demanding access to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant that Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of having bombed. .

“The situation is serious and the IAEA must be authorized to carry out its mission in Zaporijjia as quickly as possible,” said Rafael Grossi, speaking via video during this emergency meeting of the Security Council.

“Time is running out,” he insisted, as the IAEA has been trying for weeks to send a mission to inspect the plant. The site of the Zaporijjia power plant, Europe’s largest, under Russian control since early March, was bombed again on Thursday.

A power plant in the middle of a battlefield

The spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, when asked about the accusations that point to the UN’s responsibility in the delay in sending the IAEA mission, rejected this idea again on Thursday.

“It’s a nuclear power plant in the middle of a battlefield. I think you can imagine at least two or three pages of obstacles,” said UN official Stephane Dujarric.

To ensure the safety of the site and allow for an inspection mission, Antonio Guterres and the United States called Thursday for the establishment of a demilitarized zone around the plant.

“Unfortunately, instead of a de-escalation, even more worrying incidents have been reported in recent days, incidents that, if they continue, could lead to a catastrophe,” Antonio Guterres said in a statement.