Europe 1 with AFP 4:48 p.m., August 24, 2022
The director general of the UN body, Rafael Grossi, that of the Russian agency Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, as well as the Russian ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, saw each other in Istanbul, indicated the Agency Russian Atomic Energy in a statement.
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that of the Russian Atomic Agency met on Wednesday to discuss an inspection of the largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, that of Zaporizhia, which has been bombed several times. .
The director general of the UN body, Rafael Grossi, that of the Russian agency Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, as well as the Russian ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, saw each other in Istanbul, indicated the Agency Russian Atomic Energy in a statement.
Rafael Grossi and Alexei Likhachev "discussed in detail all the subjects relating to the planned inspection by the IAEA of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant", indicated the Russian agency.
"The Russian side shares the intention (...) to organize such a mission in the near future, as soon as the military situation on the ground allows it, and is ready to provide any kind of support, including logistical support", she added.
In a tweet, Rafael Grossi said he had "important technical discussions in Istanbul on the imminent mission of the IAEA" in Zaporizhia.
Important technical discussions today in Istanbul on @IAEAorg's imminent mission to #Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.
pic.twitter.com/3DmEx9PAA0
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) August 24, 2022
An inspection in question for several weeks
The meeting between Rafael Grossi and Alexei Likhachev comes as the situation at the Zaporijia power plant, the largest in Ukraine and Europe, is causing concern for the international community.
Located in southern Ukraine and occupied since March by Russian forces, this plant has indeed been bombed several times in recent weeks, with kyiv and Moscow blaming each other.
During his meeting with Rafael Grossi in Istanbul, the head of the Russian Atomic Agency "stressed that the security of nuclear installations, wherever they are, has always been and remains a top priority for Russia", according to Rosatom.
An inspection of Zaporizhia by the IAEA has been under discussion for several weeks, but its practical modalities remain subject to debate, with Ukraine and Russia each having their own conditions.
In a telephone interview with French President Emmanuel Macron last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed to the IAEA sending a team through Ukraine and not through Russia, which he previously demanded. according to Paris.
Arrest of two Ukrainian employees of the plant
If the Zaporijia plant is controlled by the Russian military, it is still the Ukrainian technical staff who operate it, a forced cohabitation which is accompanied by tensions.
The Russian authorities thus announced on Wednesday the arrest of two employees of the plant whom they accuse of having transmitted sensitive information to the forces of kyiv.
"Two employees of the nuclear power plant who had passed information on the location of personnel and equipment to the Ukrainian army (...) have been arrested," said the Russian National Guard, quoted by local news agencies. .
A third person accused of having provided kyiv with information on the movements of Russian troops around the plant has been arrested, added the same source, without providing details.