Ukraine asks Switzerland to represent it diplomatically in Russia

Zelensky warns of nuclear disaster amid fighting around Zaporizhia

Zelensky speaks via video link at the Donors' Conference for Ukraine in Copenhagen.

AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the international community of a new nuclear disaster similar to what happened at Chernobyl in 1986, with the fighting around the Zaporizhia nuclear plant.

While the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven urged Russia to return the Zaporizhia nuclear plant to Ukraine, the latter asked Switzerland to represent it diplomatically in Russia, but Moscow must agree to this measure in order for it to enter into force.

In detail, the Ukrainian president said yesterday in a video clip at the beginning of the Donors' Conference for Ukraine in Copenhagen that Russia is holding the Zaporizhia nuclear plant as a hostage, and is using it for blackmail.

Zelensky added that Russia is more dangerous than the Soviet Union, which previously tried to hide the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

"We have to protect Europe from this threat," he said.

Zelensky pointed out that the Zaporizhia station is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, but the third largest on Earth.

Zelensky said the response to Russia's action must be comprehensive.

He added that Ukraine needed the maximum amount of weapons and ammunition to defend itself.

"No one needs new disasters," he said.

The donors' conference is set to focus on long-term support for weapons, training of soldiers, and assistance to Ukraine in demining.

The conference will be attended by representatives from 26 countries, including several defense ministers.

Denmark announced at the beginning of the conference that it would support Ukraine with an additional 110 million euros for weapons, equipment and training.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven of the world's largest economies called on Russia to immediately hand over full control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to Ukraine.

"The Russian Federation must immediately withdraw its forces from within Ukraine's internationally recognized borders and respect Ukraine's territory and sovereignty," the foreign ministers said in a statement issued in Germany.

"In this context, we demand that Russia immediately hand over full control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant to its legitimate sovereign owner, Ukraine," the statement added.

And according to what Bern confirmed the day before yesterday, Ukraine asked Switzerland to represent it diplomatically in Russia, but Moscow must agree to this measure in order for it to enter into force.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that Kyiv had asked to authorize Switzerland to act as a "protecting power" for its interests in Russia, confirming what was published by the newspaper "Luserner Zeitung".

The State Department explained that the mandate of the "protecting force" allows countries to "maintain low-level relations and provide consular protection to the citizens of the other country concerned."

"For the mandate of the Protecting Force to enter into force, Russia must still give its consent," a ministry spokeswoman confirmed in an email.

This can be tricky because Bern has previously angered Moscow by complying with the European Union's decision to impose sanctions on Russia, at the time wondering if Switzerland can still be considered neutral.

Concerning the fighting, the Ukrainian president said in a video speech, the day before yesterday, that the Russian forces "suffered" nine combat aircraft in the Crimea, and another in the Zaporizhia region.

Yesterday, Bloomberg news agency reported that Zelensky's comments came after a fire broke out in the Crimea, killing one person.

On the other hand, Russian strikes killed 14 people on Wednesday night, most of them in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities, at a site near the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which Moscow and Kiev accuse of bombing.

The night attack in Dnipropetrovsk killed 13 people and wounded 11 others, five of whom are in a critical condition, in this relatively safe area to which civilians are transported from Donbass to the east and is the center of the Russian attack.

"We had a horrific night ... it is very difficult to get the bodies out from under the rubble," Valentin Rezhnikwa, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, wrote on the Telegram app.

The governor said that this Russian attack, which was carried out with Grad missile launchers, targeted the town of Marganets, opposite the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia on the other bank of the Dnipro River, and the village of Vychitarasivka.

In the neighboring region of Zaporizhia, partly controlled by Russian forces, Ukrainian governor Oleksandr Starukh spoke on Telegram of a Russian raid that had killed one person.

Staruch wrote that "four missiles were fired" at the village of Kochogom.

He added that "four private homes were completely destroyed, and dozens of homes no longer had roofs or windows, and gas and electricity supplies were cut off."

In Riga, the Latvian parliament yesterday described Russia as a "state that supports terrorism," as stated in a statement posted on its website.

The Latvian parliament said in its statement that it "recognizes Russia as a state that supports terrorism" and calls on other countries to "express the same opinion."

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