Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toys with the lives of Ukrainians and Europeans alike by giving orders to attack the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Natalya Karmazinskaya, Russia's spokesperson at the UN, has stated.
Speaking at a UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting on Wednesday, Karmazinskaya said that the relevant information was included in official documents at the UN Security Council and the UNGA, in a move initiated by Russia.
“However, the United States and its allies continue to turn a blind eye to the situation and are in no hurry to bring the regime of Volodymyr Zelensky to reason. He actually toys with the lives of those living both in his country and the entire European continent,” Karmazinskaya added.
She said that the ongoing shelling of the ZNPP by the Armed Forces of Ukraine poses the main threat to the facility, which was specifically shelled on November 19-20.
The spokesperson stressed that Moscow had done its best to ensure the security of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the ZNPP on September 1 in the face of provocations staged by the Ukrainian government.
“Following the visit to the ZNPP, station, the IAEA’s director general came up with an initiative to create an operational and physical nuclear security protection zone around the nuclear plant. Its main goal is to prevent threats to the station emanating from the incessant attacks on the facility by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Karamzinskaya said.
She underlined that Russia supports the idea of creating a security zone around the ZNPP.
“In principle, we support this initiative. But it is necessary to agree on the parameters of this zone so that this could not weaken the ZNPP’s protection and add to a terrorist threat,” the spokesperson concluded.
Last month, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told Sputnik that it was necessary to agree on the creation of a security zone around the ZNPP as soon as possible, and Moscow is in contact with the IAEA and its director general, Rafael Grossi, on this issue.
Located on the left bank of the Dnepr River, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of number of units and output. During the special military operation in Ukraine, launched by Russia on February 24, the nuclear plant and surrounding area were taken by Russian forces and have since been repeatedly shelled by Ukrainian forces.