Zakharova: Russia regrets that the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye NPP has not yet taken place

Russia regrets that the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has not yet taken place, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Her statement published on the website of the Foreign Ministry.

“We express our deep regret that the mission has not yet taken place. As you know, this is a deplorable result of unscrupulous games on the part of the UN Secretariat,” Zakharova emphasized, commenting on Western media reports about the negotiations between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

According to Zakharova, foreign media portray the talks as if “the French side almost “pushed through” its position,” but Russia agreed to the IAEA mission at the ZNPP on June 3, which is known to all parties, including the agency, France and the UN secretariat .

“If now colleagues in the West, including Paris, believe that things are moving towards the practical implementation of such a responsible event, then this is an important and positive change in their approach. Until now, the curators of Kyiv have worked exclusively to disrupt the mission of the IAEA, playing along with the constant provocations of the Kyiv regime, including the dangerous shelling of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, ”said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Zakharova added that Russia is interested in the IAEA seeing the consequences of the shelling of the nuclear power plant and giving an objective assessment. “Further connivance with the Ukrainian shelling of the ZNPP is not just criminal, it may turn out to be a“ shot in the head. We hope that in Paris they understand this and will finally be able to straighten up their presumptuous “client” in Kyiv, ”she said.

On August 16, it became known about the start of preparations for the second IAEA mission to ZNPP. According to Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, the preparations are still going slowly because of the vacation of the agency’s director, Rafael Grossi. Earlier in the afternoon Grossi declaredthat the mission could take place within a few days if negotiations were successful.

Zaporozhye NPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the city of Energodar. Four days after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, Russian troops took control of the station. Subsequently, Energodar and the nuclear power plant were repeatedly shelled by the Ukrainian military.