Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated calls for Moscow to immediately return the embattled Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant to full Ukrainian control ahead of talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“The Russian army must withdraw from the territory of the nuclear power plant and all neighbouring areas and take away its military equipment from the plant,’’ Zelensky said.
Zelensky said this in his nightly video address on Wednesday.
“This must happen without any conditions and as soon as possible,’’ he said.
Zelensky said Ukrainian diplomats, scientists, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were working on sending an IAEA mission to the plant.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had earlier called on Moscow to withdraw its forces and agree to an inspection of the plant.
“The seizure of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant by Russian forces poses a serious threat to the safety and the security of this facility,’’ Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
“It raises the risks of a nuclear accident or incident and endangers the population of Ukraine, of neighbouring countries, and of the international community,’’ he added.
The IAEA visit to the plant would be among the subjects of discussion in a meeting between Zelensky, Guterres, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan set to take place in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv Thursday.
The Turkish side said the trio would discuss ending the war between Ukraine and Russia through diplomatic channels.
Meanwhile, fighting continued on the ground, with Russian troops making minor gains in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Wednesday.
In the northeast, Russian shelling on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killed at least six people and hit a skyscraper, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
