World

West's Silence Seen as Tacit Support for Attacks on Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant

MOSCOW, (Sputnik) - West's unwillingness to condemn the actions of the Ukrainian side looks like an indirect support of Kiev's attacks on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Russian Perm. Rep. to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.
Sputnik
"The main problem, of course, is with Western countries. No matter what Ukrainians do, they are never, under any circumstances, ready to say anything negative about the Ukrainian side. And it looks like an indirect support of the attacks on the Zaporozhye power plant," Ulyanov said after the meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He also added that he has "a feeling that... such an atmosphere has been created, which... encourages the Ukrainian side to act recklessly."
Despite such actions the meeting was positive and Russian managed to draw attention to the dangerous actions of the Ukrainian side at the facility, Ulyanov said.
"I am generally satisfied with the meeting that took place. We wanted to draw attention to the dangerous actions of the Ukrainian side at the Zaporozhye power plant, we wanted the Council members to have the opportunity to call for the immediate cessation of such actions, so that they would support the position of the director general in this regard," Ulyanov said.
Ulyanov also noted that during the meeting only Russia and Syria directly called Ukraine guilty of the attacks on the Zaporozhye plant.
"Ukraine was directly called as the guilty party, of course, by us, since we know about it 100%, and by our Syrian friends, the permanent representative of Syria. Others, in conditions when there is no official conclusion on the guilt of the Ukrainians by the IAEA, avoided this moment. But many countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America have called quite strongly for these attacks to stop immediately. This is what, in fact, we wanted to see and hear," Ulyanov told reporters.
Analysis
Ukraine and the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant: The Samson Solution
Ulyanov expressed hope that Thursday's meeting will result in no new attacks on the plant by Ukraine.
"Time will tell how effective today's meeting was. I expect that there will be no new attacks. There were none yesterday and none today. I would like to hope that this is, among other things, the result of convening this meeting," Ulyanov told journalists after the meeting.
The Russian diplomat added that this is the reason why he would assess the meeting as positive, without overestimating it, adding that "this is what we could and had to do in this situation."
Discuss