KYIV (Reuters) -The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has postponed the rotation of its mission to the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant due to a lack of security guarantees from Russia, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
A senior Russian diplomat rejected Ukraine’s assertion.
“This is not the first time the Kremlin has used blackmail as a tool to intimidate international experts and undermine their independence,” a Ukrainian ministry spokesman said.
“We will not allow Russia to undermine the Agency’s independence and impartiality in order to achieve its criminal goals,” he said in a statement.
Russia captured Europe’s largest nuclear power plant shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The IAEA has deployed staff to the plant since September 2022.
Senior Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov, in a statement on X, accused Ukraine of lying about a lack of security guarantees.
The Vienna-based diplomat said the Russian Ministry of Defence had provided “all assurances” to the agency, while Ukraine was trying to introduce new demands.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said he would visit Russia later this week to discuss the situation in Ukraine and at the Zaporizhzhia plant.
“It’s essential that I, in the discharge of my obligations, keep channels of communication constantly,” Grossi told a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
During the visit, he inspected an electricity distribution substation, warning that attacks on Ukraine’s power grid could pose a risk of a nuclear accident by disrupting supply.
Moscow has regularly attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including substations, although it has avoided direct strikes on Ukraine’s nuclear plants which produce more than half of the country’s electricity.
(Reporting by Anastasiia MalenkoEditing by Angus MacSwan and Gareth Jones)
