Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin agreed to an inspection mission at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during a telephone conversation about the war in Ukraine on Friday. This call, announced by the Kremlin before being confirmed by the Elysee, is the first official exchange between the two heads of state since the end of May.
“The President of the Russian Federation has indicated to the President of the Republic his agreement to the deployment of this mission and the methods mentioned,” specifies the presidential palace in a press release.
According to Moscow, the two heads of state have spoken in favor of an inspection of Zaporizhia by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “as soon as possible.”
A “risk of nuclear catastrophe” according to Putin
Also according to the Kremlin, the Russian president mentioned, during this exchange, a risk of “major disaster” at the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, while the building has been repeatedly attacked by fire since the beginning of the conflict.
Vladimir Putin “stressed that the systematic shelling … of the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant creates the danger of a large-scale disaster that could lead to radioactive contamination of vast territories,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that it was “urgent” for the IAEA to carry out an “inspection” at the plant.
Moscow and Kyiv have been mutually responsible for the attacks on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, under Russian control, for several weeks.
Source: BFM TV
