Putin willing to guarantee nuclear security in meeting with IAEA chief

The Russian president, Vladimir Putinshowed his willingness this Wednesday to guarantee nuclear safety when receiving Rafael Grossi, general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“We, of course, are ready to do everything possible to ensure security at any point where we are in any way related to the nuclear energy”Putin said at the beginning of the meeting in the resort of Sochi (Black Sea).

Putin acknowledged that Grossi’s agenda includes several issues “especially sensitive”in clear allusion to the Zaporizhia power plant, under Russian control in Ukrainian territory.

Likewise, he expressed his willingness to discuss with the head of the IAEA “any topic”, while praising the Argentine for the steps he has taken to strengthen cooperation with Russia.

In turn, he recalled that Russia is one of the leaders in the nuclear sphere, which he recalled is clean energy, and stressed that Moscow does everything possible to “increase the security of atomic facilities.”

“We are willing to share our progress with all interested partners,” he added during the meeting that took place in the presence of the head of the Russian atomic agency, Rosatom, Alexei Lijachev.

Grossi considered “extremely important” the meeting and recalled that the last meeting with the Russian leader took place 18 months ago in Saint Petersburg.

“It seems to me that everything that has happened since then further demonstrates how timely this meeting is (…) There are challenges and delicate issues,” said.

In addition, he also highlighted the long conversation he had this morning with Lijachov in the presence of specialists from the IAEA and Rosatom, which was mainly focused on minimizing the risks for the Zaporizhia plant, the largest in Europe.

“The situation in Zaporizhia remains very precarious,” Grossi said this Monday during a speech before the Board of Governors of this United Nations agency.

In a subsequent meeting with the media, Grossi said that the IAEA personnel deployed at the plant have reported that military activity in its vicinity increased last weekend, which means, he said, that ““The physical integrity of the facility remains at risk.”

Russian troops have in recent weeks intensified their offensive to regain lost ground in the north of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, whose capital is under Ukrainian control.

Grossi’s last visit to Russia to address the situation at the Zaporizhia plant took place a year ago.