Senior Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov said Friday that direct trilateral talks between Moscow, Kiev and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Zaporiyia «are impossible» because of the current state of Russian-Ukrainian relations.
Asked during an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency about the status of negotiations on a buffer zone around the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant, Ulyanov remarked that little progress has been made on the issue due to the lack of direct communication between Russia and Ukraine.
«IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has to undertake ‘shuttle diplomacy’, communicating in turns with Russia and Ukraine,» said Russia’s permanent representative to International Organizations in Vienna.
«Of course, progress on the issue could have been faster if trilateral talks had been held, but this is impossible due to the current state of Russian-Ukrainian relations,» he has added, detailing that Grossi communicates with both sides «by turns.»
Weeks earlier, the IAEA director general had stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksi were ready to reach an agreement mediated by the agency in order to ensure that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant would no longer be «in such a precarious situation».
«There is a willingness that is for me, expressed by both leaders, which is to work with me, with the IAEA, and accept that the establishment of this protection zone is a feasible goal. Otherwise, they would tell me ‘don’t waste your time, I don’t agree, it can’t be done'», said Grossi during an interview with the Argentine newspaper ‘La Nación’.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
