At the emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant located in Ukraine but under Russian military control, charges were filed between the United States and Russia on Thursday (11).
The region suffers from bombings, which Kyiv and Moscow blame on each other, and the facility itself is no longer remotely monitored by members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The meeting was held by Russia, which accused Ukraine of “hostile” activities there.
Bonnie Jenkins, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and National Security, said in her speech that the cause of the current problems is “it’s no secret, Russia’s illegal presence in the structure.” Therefore, he said that Russian troops should immediately leave the plant and the whole of occupied Ukraine.
In the same tone, the British Ambassador to the UN, James Kariuki, recalled that five months ago the CS itself had decided that Russia should stop acting there, but to date “Russian actions have violated almost seven nuclear safety and security pillars “.
“Ukraine’s criminal actions against the nuclear power plant have brought the world to the brink of a nuclear disaster comparable to Chernobyl,” said Vasily Nebenzia, Russia’s ambassador to the UN.
“We warn our Western colleagues that if they do not bring rationality to Kiev, there will be more brutal and senseless actions that will be felt far beyond the borders of Ukraine,” Nebenzia said in a statement to the United States.
There is no way to independently tell who carried out the attacks on the facility, which currently caused minor but equally alarming damage. On Thursday morning, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged Kyiv and Moscow to cease hostilities.
Shortly before the start of the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a video message urging “the international community to react immediately” to “hunt down the inhabitants of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”.
“Only a complete Russian withdrawal can guarantee nuclear security in Europe.”
IAEA – In the technical part of the meeting, Rafael Grossi, director general of the IAEA, once again called for a team of experts from the parties to have personal access to the nuclear power plant. And even in this, Kyiv and Moscow make mutual accusations, saying that they do not want to allow each other to visit.
Grossi said he plans to guide this task himself, to oversee the area and carry out an “independent assessment” of the risks. In addition, he said military actions “should be stopped immediately” because they could have “serious consequences”.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is located in Energodar and has been under Russian military control since March 4, but operated by Ukrainian technicians. In total there are six reactors at the plant, but only two are in use.
In one of the recent attacks, Moscow said it had shut down one of the reactors, but the information could not be independently verified because the IAEA no longer had access to remote surveillance data.
source: Noticias
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