United Nations, Aug 25 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of the risky situation in and surrounding the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in the southern part of Ukraine.
“I remain deeply concerned about the current situation in the vicinity of Europe’s largest nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhya.
The warning light is flashing,” he told the UN Security Council.
“Any actions that could jeopardize the security, integrity, or safety of the nuclear facility are absolutely unacceptable.
Any further aggravation of the crisis could lead to self-destructing,” Guterres was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
The safety of the plant has to be assured and the facility is required to be rebuilt as a civilian infrastructure he said.
In her briefing to the Security Council on Tuesday, UN Undersecretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said Zaporizhzhya continues to be operated by Ukrainian technical personnel but has been under the control of Russian military forces since early March.In the beginning of August, alarming reports of an increase of shelling of Zaporizhzhya began to surface.
Guterres expressed desire that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could send a team to Zaporizhzhya as soon as it is possible.
“In close communication with the IAEA the UN Secretariat has assessed that we have in Ukraine the security and logistics capabilities to help any IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Kiev as long as Russia and Ukraine are in agreement,” he said.
It is also in the process of preparing to deploy the newly established UN fact-finding team to look into the attack on the prison in Olenivka in the Donetsk region of Ukraine which reportedly killed hundreds of prisoners of war, according to Guterres.
This mission needs to be able to freely carry out its work and find the truth.
It is crucial that the mission is secure, safe and unhindered access relevant locations and people and all relevant evidence without restriction, impediment, or interference, he said.
Ukraine and Russia both accused one another of having carried out the attack that killed the prison.
Guterres also presented the Security Council on his recent visit to Ukraine.
The trip was an chance to monitor the landmark agreement on export of Ukraine grain through the Black Sea, he said.”I am able to inform the council that the Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul in July was a success”.
Guterres has stressed the importance of free access to the global markets of Russian fertilizers and food items in the context of the Istanbul agreement, noting that it is crucial that all governments as well as the private sector work together to bring these products to market.
“Getting lots of fertilizers and food products from of Ukraine as well as Russia at a reasonable cost is crucial to help calm commodity markets and reduce cost for consumers.” he said.
int/shs
