A delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency may be able to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in early September, according to Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian representative in Vienna where the IAEA is based.
Ulyanov said during an online briefing on Friday: “It’s too early to say anything about the details, these are all extremely sensitive issues, we are discussing and will continue to discuss the modalities of the mission, the route, the number of people who will be involved in this, how long they will stay at the station, for what tasks they are there sent."
"When the mission can take place -- forecasts do not always come true, but, according to my feelings, we can quite realistically talk about the first days of September, unless some extraneous factors that are not related to the goals arise again," Ulyanov said.
Ulyanov said that the organization of the mission is currently being discussed with the IAEA secretariat.
"Almost every day I communicate with the director general of the agency, Rafael Grossi ... On Monday, he will appear here in Vienna, and work in this direction will intensify," Ulyanov said.
The Russian and Ukrainian sides are at odds over the arrangements for such a visit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday an IAEA mission would have to travel only through territory not occupied by Russia.
As for the status of the plant, Ulyanov said: "So far, there are no serious consequences, but, as the IAEA director general rightly said at an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council a week ago, at any moment this could end badly," Ulyanov said.
He said the situation at the plant was "extremely alarming. What the Ukrainian military is doing when shelling this nuclear facility is completely unacceptable," he said.
Ukraine has denied shelling the area, and blamed Russia for doing so as a provocation. Some facilities at the plant have been damaged.
Ulyanov said he did not think the IAEA would support Ukraine's insistence that a demilitarized zone around the plant be created.
"I think IAEA won't support it, and for one simple reason -- the creation of demilitarized zones has nothing to do with the IAEA's mandate," he said.
Russian officials have rejected the idea of demilitarizing the plant, saying that it needs to be protected.
Amid a steady stream of accusations by each side, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday that Ukrainian recklessness was to blame for posing "a threat to the largest nuclear facility in Europe with potential risks for a huge territory, not only adjacent to this plant, but far beyond the Ukrainian borders."
"Our air defense systems in the region have been strengthened, we are taking all measures to ensure the safety of the station," Ryabkov said, according to Russian state news agency TASS.
Ryabkov said that the presence of the Russian military guarding the nuclear plant was a guarantee that such a Chernobyl scenario would not be realized.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the supervisory board meeting of the presidential forum "Russia - Land of Opportunity" at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia April 20, 2022.
Mikhail Tereshchenko | Sputnik | via Reuters
WASHINGTON – World leaders swiftly condemned the Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian port, a dramatic revelation amid a U.N.-brokered deal that secured a sea corridor for grains and other foodstuff exports.
A day prior, representatives from the U.N., Turkey, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to reopen three Ukrainian ports, an apparent breakthrough as the Kremlin's war on its ex-Soviet neighbor marches into its fifth month.
The deal, signed in Istanbul and set to be implemented in the next few weeks, follows a months-long blockade of dozens of Ukrainian ports sprinkled along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
The strike on Odesa, Ukraine's largest port, illustrates yet another anxious turn in fruitless efforts to mitigate a mounting global food crisis.
A general view shows a fire engine at a scene of a burning building after a shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues in a location given as Odesa, Ukraine in this picture obtained from social media released on July 19, 2022.
State Emergency Service of Ukraine | Via Reuters
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia "predictably worthless" on the heels of the attack.
"The ink has not had time to dry out, yet there are two vile provocations: attack on a seaport in Odesa and a statement by Russia's Defense Ministry that Ukraine ports are "dangerous for shipping," wrote Mykhailo Podolyak on Twitter.
"Not even 24 hours had passed before these grain terminals, the territory of Odesa and the port were struck," Zelenskyy told a U.S. delegation of lawmakers visiting Ukraine.
Among those visiting Zelenskyy, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Russian President Vladimir Putin "violated the spirit of that agreement with more missile strikes."
"He simply cannot be trusted," Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wrote in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. strongly condemns the Russian missile attack and said Russia bears responsibility for deepening the world's food crisis.
The attack "undermines work of the U.N., Turkey and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets," Blinken said in a statement.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "unequivocally" condemned the missile strike on the port.
"Full implementation [of the deal] by the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative," the U.N. chief wrote.
Bridget Brink, President Joe Biden's Ambassador to Ukraine, urged the global community to hold Russia to account.
"The Kremlin continues to weaponize food. Russia must be held to account," Brink wrote on Twitter.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia's missile strike on Odesa "reprehensible."
"Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible again demonstrates Russia's total disregard for international law and commitments," Borrell wrote on Twitter.
Spanish celebrity chef and restaurateur Jose Andres, who brought his humanitarian organization to Ukraine to alleviate the food crisis triggered by Russia's war, also slammed the missile strikes on Odesa.
"Why are you attacking the grain that needs to be exported? Why? Stop please and let's feed the world," wrote the two-star Michelin chef and founder of the World Central Kitchen, a group dedicated to feeding vulnerable communities.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said the missile strikes were "all you need to know about deals with Russia."
"Today, Russian missiles hit the port of Odesa. That's all you need to know about deals with Russia. The world must help Ukraine fight the aggressor," she wrote.
— Reuters contributed to this report.
