President spoke about prospect of returning ZNPP under control of Ukraine.
Today, only political steps are being taken to return the Zaporizhzhia NPP seized by the Russians to Ukrainian control. But they are not enough.
This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to Zaporizhzhia, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Regarding the return of ZNPP, today there are only political steps and, unfortunately, they are not enough to return the plant to our control. It would be safer for Ukraine to control Zaporizhzhia NPP, and so far, from the point of view of the battlefield, I do not see such opportunities, and those that probably exist are dangerous. Therefore, we believe that it is still politically necessary to return our station. At least, we are talking about this at all platforms,” Zelensky said.
He added that the issue of de-occupation of the station is being handled by IAEA Director Rafael Grossi. In the near future, he is scheduled to visit Enerhodar, in particular Zaporizhzhia NPP. After this visit, Mr. Grossi will come to Kyiv to meet with the President of Ukraine.
“We are constantly working to ensure that there is a rotation of the IAEA team there [at ZNPP]. This suggests that yes, there are “Russian fighters” controlling it. But when the IAEA is at the station, it is still safer. At least we understand the information. Maybe not completely, not 100%, but we have information about what is happening there, and the IAEA is still in control of security there today. I know that he [Grossi] is to come with some proposals to strengthen security control, and we will discuss the next steps,” Zelensky added.
Earlier it was reported that Zaporizhzhia NPP is one of the largest in Europe. In March 2022, the plant was seized by the Russian military. Currently, there is a large number of Russian military and weapons on the territory of the plant. The opposite shore of the former Kakhovka Reservoir, Nikopol, is being shelled from the plant.