LIVE UPDATES: US Says Decision Not to Designate Russia as 'State Sponsor of Terrorism' is Final

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said it does not have any announcement to make regarding who will replace Sullivan but said the matter will be worked out in an appropriate amount of time.

At present, ships have been safely transporting grain from three Ukrainian ports to their destinations. However, even though the deal was meant to alleviate the suffering of the developing countries in Africa given the high prices of food, a very small number of the ships had actually reached African countries.

"I will be very soon approaching the relevant parties with some concrete elements for their consideration in order to try to move forward in the next logical step after this important first one which will be to establish an immediate protection to the plant," Grossi told a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday. "My invitation, my urge, my appeal is to work together... on the protection of the Zaporozhye Nuclear POwer PLant for the establishment of the nuclear safety and security protection zone. The IAEA will be contacting all sides very very soon with very concrete steps for your consideration."

On Wednesday, the Security Council should hold another meeting on Ukraine, which was called for by the United States and Albania.

"I don't have any personnel moves or announcements to speak to with respect to Ambassador Sullivan," Kirby said during a conference call. "When there is a nominee to talk about, clearly we will announce and make that clear. We know it's a key diplomatic post and I'm sure that we'll work through this in an appropriate amount of time."

"Attacks that this facility has received and that I could personally see and assess together with my experts are simply unacceptable ... All safety and security systems and equipment should operate normally and unhindered and be fully functional," Grossi told a UN Security Council meeting.

The Russian mission to the United Nations requested this meeting last week amid concerns over Ukrainian shelling of the Russia-controlled plant and following a visit by an International Atomic Energy Agency team to the facility.

"We regret that in your report on the safeguards implementation in Ukraine since April to September of this year, which appeared literally a couple of hours ago, this source of shelling is not directly named," Nebenzia told a UN Security Council meeting. "It is important to call things by their name."

"If we demilitarize it, the Ukrainians will immediately step in and ruin the whole thing. We are protecting, we are defending the station," Nebenzia told journalists.

The Russian mission to the United Nations requested the meeting last week amid concerns over Ukrainian shelling of the Russia-controlled plant and following a visit by the IAEA team to the facility.

During the four months following the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, the European Union was the largest importer of unwrought aluminum from Russia and obtained some 78,207 tonnes per month in the March-June period - 13% more than the same period last year.

Ukrainian militants opened fire from artillery on Energodar, causing power outage, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Tuesday.

The city administration told Sputnik that as a result of the shelling, a power line in the vicinity of the nuclear power plant was damaged, which led to a temporary power outage. In addition, there is instability in the water supply.

Seven shells hit the area of the Zaporozhye NPP's training building, the authorities said.

Information about casualties is being specified.

Speaking at the European Parliament inter-parliamentary conference in Prague on Monday, Borrell decided to switch to his native Spanish to deliver a clearer response while answering lawmakers' question about the bloc's actions against Russia. An Estonian lawmaker asked a question, using the phrase "fascist Russia." Borrell, in his answer, quoted the question, mentioning the same expression. The interpreter, however, failed to emphasize that it was a quote, and presented it as Borrell's statement.

The mediation of a third country in the exchange of prisoners detained during the special operation of Russia in Ukraine will not bring added value to the process, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in an interview with Sputnik.

Russia pays much attention to the issues of the exchange of prisoners and detainees and is "extremely concerned about the cruel treatment of Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian security forces, the inhuman conditions of their detention," the diplomat said.

"As for Ukrainian prisoners of war, their fate can be decided only after the consideration of specific cases by the judicial authorities of the DPR and LPR. We are not going to interfere in their competence. If they decide on the possibility of including one or another detainee in the exchange lists, then the appropriate procedures will be launched. We do not think that the involvement of third parties in this work will have any added value," Rudenko said.