The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said Tuesday that a possible agreement between Ukraine and Russia for a military exclusion zone in and around the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant, which would prevent any accident at the facility, is «not far off».
In a speech to the European Parliament, Grossi gave an account of the diplomatic efforts in which the agency has been engaged in recent months with Kiev and Moscow to ensure that there are no attacks in the vicinity of the plant.
«The zone that we demand would entail Russia refraining from launching rockets or deploying artillery. I think we need a political decision, because we already know what can and should be done from the technical aspects to respect this zone,» he argued.
«We are not far from reaching this agreement,» he told the MEPs after the trip that took him to the area to promote this agreement. According to him, the rounds of talks to achieve the pact continue, pointing out that one of the problems that exist is that any measure is taken to the military bodies.
«At my table there are not only diplomats, but also military personnel, and many factors have to be combined», explained Grossi, although he stressed that it is in the common interest of Ukrainians and Russians to reach an agreement to avoid nuclear incidents.
Regarding the risk of a nuclear disaster, the head of the atomic agency pointed out that it is not necessary for the bombs to reach the nuclear power plant, as he said happened at the end of the summer and in November, but that there is a risk of damage if the high-voltage lines fall.
«I don’t know how much longer we will be lucky to avoid an accident,» he summed up, insisting on the urgency of agreeing on a demilitarized zone, after the Zaporiyia plant has been the scene of fighting in the past.
«IRAN’S COMPLIANCE WITH THE NUCLEAR AGREEMENT IS ZERO».
Grossi also commented on the situation regarding the nuclear agreement with Iran, a pact that the EU has been trying to restore for a year and a half but which, amid Tehran’s repressive drift and its military support for Russia in the Ukraine war, remains blocked.
«As of today it is an empty agreement. No one has declared it dead, but none of the obligations it contains are fulfilled and every limit contained in the agreement has been violated on several occasions,» he lamented, insisting that Iran enriches uranium to 60 percent, that is at the weapons level.
For all these reasons, and after explaining that Tehran maintains that it is not obliged to follow the agreement as long as the United States does not lift its sanctions, the Argentine diplomat concluded that «Iran’s level of commitment and implementation of the nuclear agreement is zero».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
