MADRID, Sep. 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, expressed this Monday that Moscow refuses to withdraw its troops from Zaporizhia for the time being and has stressed that, before making this decision, it is a priority for the Ukrainian Army to stop its attacks in the area.
Peskov has indicated that this is one of the main demands in the framework of the beginning of the consultations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which seeks to create a safe zone around the Zaporizhia nuclear plant.
“Currently we are not weighing the idea of a withdrawal. We are talking about the main thing, forcing the Ukrainian side to give up barbaric shelling of targets in the area where the plant is located, which could have sad and catastrophic consequences.” , he said during a press conference, according to information from the Interfax news agency.
In this regard, he stated that they ask all countries “to use their influence on the Ukrainian side to stop the attacks, which continue to occur daily.”
His words come after the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, announced on Sunday the start of consultations to create a nuclear security zone in the vicinity of what is the largest nuclear plant in Europe.
This Monday, Grossi has indicated that the mission has made it clear that “there is an urgent need to achieve an end to the attacks and clashes in the area of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant.” In a statement, he has insisted on the importance of establishing a security zone, something “essential to put an end to the bombing of the plant and the vital infrastructure to achieve the cooling of the reactors.”
Likewise, he has conveyed that the IAEA mission considers, as a fundamental pillar, that the “physical integrity of the nuclear facility must not be violated.” “My team of experts and I have been able to observe the possible consequences of the attacks, which increase the danger of a nuclear accident,” he said.
“All security systems must be up and running, operating normally. At the Zaporizhia plant we observed violations by military vehicles, so we ask for their withdrawal so as not to interfere with protection and security operations,” he continued.
Grossi has highlighted the importance of plant personnel being able to “carry out their duties without pressure”, something that has been transferred to the Russian authorities on several occasions since last March.
On the other hand, he has emphasized the importance of maintaining the electricity supply to avoid the loss of “vital functions” in the face of “continuous cuts and interruptions”, which continue to be “worrying”.
“During the visit we have been able to observe that the radiation level monitoring systems show incomplete data and part of the equipment has been damaged by the bombardments. (…) The communication channels have been interrupted, for which we ask that they be restored”, he pointed out.
Source: Europa Press
