IAEA visit did not bring tangible results in terms of demilitarizing ZNPP – Shmyhal

An IAEA mission's visit to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant did not bring tangible results in terms of creating a demilitarized zone.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said this while opening a government meeting on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports, citing the government portal.

"We discussed [with our European partners] the need to demilitarize the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the IAEA's visit did not bring tangible results in this area. Therefore, we propose creating an international mission with the participation of the EU, the UN and other organizations, which will contribute to the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of the ZNPP and a 30-kilometer area around the station, which will allow for its safe functioning," Shmyhal said.

He added that Ukraine is also ready to contribute to the energy independence of the EU by increasing Ukrainian electricity exports.

"Now we export 300 MW, but we can export seven times more [electricity]. Similarly, Ukraine can be a 'gas safe' for Europe thanks to our largest gas storage facilities. All these things were part of our discussion with the European and German leadership," he said.

In addition, Shmyhal noted that three key points are now necessary in the issue of sanctions.

"First of all, a visa ban for Russians in the entire civilized world. The first step in this area has already been taken. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed to completely suspend the visa facilitation agreement with the Russian Federation from 2007. Another type of sanctions, which needs to be taken to its logical conclusion, is the disconnection of all Russian and Belarusian banks from SWIFT," Shmyhal said.

He also added that the third key issue was the energy embargo.

"The coal embargo is already working. This is an eight-billion-dollar blow to Russia every year. The oil and gas revenues of the Russian budget in August were at their lowest level since the beginning of the war, but this is not enough. The oil embargo introduced by the European Union should start working properly, and a decision should be made about a phased gas embargo. We said that at the beginning there could be a significant restriction on the price of Russian gas. This will significantly limit the Kremlin's ability to finance the war in Ukraine," Shmyhal said.

Europe has realized that Russia is waging an energy war against it, and now this realization must be converted into a complete rejection of Russian energy resources, Shmyhal added.