Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi said that he met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and thanked Washington for its efforts to create a safe zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.
Grossi posted a photo of himself and Blinken on his Twitter page and wrote under it: “Today we had a substantive meeting in Washington with Secretary of State Blinken.”
“I noted that IAEA safeguards inspectors would visit Ukraine this week and thanked the United States for supporting our efforts to create a safe zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant,” he added.
For his part, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday that Moscow proposes to create a protective zone around the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant instead of a demilitarized zone and is discussing its form with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, Ryabkov said: “An agreement on a demilitarized zone is impossible in principle, we cannot refuse to guard the station and ensure its safety. But a security zone is something else, and we are now discussing its parameters.” We believe some process of coordination, including diplomacy, with the agency’s standards in this area is needed.”
Source: RIA Novosti