Comment of Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko regarding the Visit of the IAEA Mission to the Zaporizhzhia NPP
At the invitation of the government of Ukraine, the IAEA formed a mission to visit the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The mission includes 14 international experts and is headed by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
The delegation of international nuclear scientists has already left Vienna and should arrive in Kyiv today. The mission is expected to begin its work at the ZNPP in the coming days.
The IAEA mission will focus on three main tasks:
- Physical protection
- Nuclear safety
- Guarantees of non-proliferation of nuclear materials
Ukraine's position has been clear: the occupation of the ZNPP by Russian troops and the importation of a large amount of military equipment and ammunition into its territory in violation of all international rules expose the nuclear plant to extreme danger, in particular provoking a nuclear incident.
As Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba emphasized, Russia must immediately demilitarize the facility, withdraw military units, equipment and Rosatom’s experts and return control over the ZNPP to the government of Ukraine.
We expect the IAEA will play an important role in achieving this goal.
