Putin assured Macron that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was “under control” and spoke about “provocations” in the area of ​​the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant

The Russian armed forces control the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to exclude the possibility of Ukrainian neo-Nazis organizing provocations. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

As Putin assured, “the Russian Armed Forces control the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.” “All this is being done in order to exclude the possibility of provocations fraught with catastrophic consequences by Ukrainian neo-Nazis or terrorists,” the Russian president explained, quoted by the Kremlin press service.

The Russian leader also “informed about a provocation arranged (recently) by Ukrainian radicals in the area of ​​the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with the involvement of a sabotage group.” “Attempts to shift responsibility for this incident to the Russian military are part of a cynical propaganda campaign. Russian troops, in cooperation with the Ukrainian security unit and personnel, continue to ensure the operation of the nuclear power plant in the normal mode, the radioactive background remains normal – all these facts have been officially confirmed by the IAEA. The physical and nuclear safety of the station is reliably protected,” Putin stressed.

At the same time, responding to the proposal of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency mentioned by Macron to hold a trilateral (IAEA-Russia-Ukraine) meeting in the Chernobyl zone to develop a mechanism for ensuring the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, the President of the Russian Federation made it clear that “in principle, this idea could be useful, but it would be worth considering to hold such a meeting via videoconference or in a third country.”

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

In particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and gain access to their financial systems.

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