Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s reply to a question by Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency about the situation around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant

Question: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the experts are close to reaching an acceptable agreement between Russia and Ukraine on creating a security zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). What can you say about his statement? Is it possible to transfer control of the NPP to a third party? Is IAEA head Rafael Grossi expected to visit Russia?

Maria Zakharova: To begin with, I must say that there are no direct talks between Russia and Ukraine regarding a security zone around the NPP.

We are discussing potential parameters of a declaration on creating a zone to ensure the NPP’s nuclear and physical protection with the IAEA Secretariat, which, in turn, is trying to interact with Ukraine. It is premature to say that the sides are close to reaching agreement. The main question is whether Kiev is ready to make a commitment to stop shelling and attempts to capture the NPP and if the IAEA is able to guarantee Kiev’s compliance with such hypothetical agreements.

Taking the NPP out of Russia’s control or transferring control over it to a third party are out of the question. The NPP is located on Russian territory and Russia fully controls it. We believe only Russia can ensure the NPP’s physical and nuclear safety.

We know that Rafael Grossi wants to visit Russia again and we are ready to receive him to discuss a broad range of issues related to the IAEA activities. However, there are no specific agreements on the dates of his visit yet.