Guterres and Erdogan warned of a nuclear catastrophe following the bombing of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant: “We are worried. We don’t want another Chernobyl,” Erdogan said. He was referring to the reactor accident in 1986.
Guterres said in Lviv that he was “very worried” about the situation at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. Like Zelensky, he again called for the demilitarization of the plant. “Any possible damage” to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant would be “suicide”, warned Guterres. The facility is not to be used for military operations, he said.
Ukraine: tripartite summit in Lviv
In the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres gathered for a three-way summit. Discussions focused on grain exports and the situation around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
“Deliberate Terror”
“Instead, an agreement is urgently needed to restore Zaporizhia as a purely civilian infrastructure and ensure the security of the area.” I don’t see “objective obstacles” for experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency to get to the plant, Zelenskyy said in the evening.
Portal/Gleb Garanich Erdogan, Zelenskyy and Guterres expressed concern about the occupied nuclear plant
The trip will take “very quickly and safely on the legal route through the free territory of our state to the station.” “And that’s the only way,” Zelenskyy said. Anyone who organizes nuclear blackmail like Russia cannot be the organizer of the trip. Russian troops must evacuate Europe’s biggest nuclear plant immediately and unconditionally, Zelenskyy has demanded again. “The world has the power to enforce that.” Otherwise, we could forget about all international legal acts on nuclear and radiological safety. “Russia is destroying this international order.”
mutual accusations
Repeated bombing of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has fueled fears of a nuclear incident for days. Russian units captured the southern Ukraine nuclear power plant in early March. It is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of bombing the plant site.
debate
What is needed for peace in Ukraine?
On Thursday, Ukraine’s military intelligence service warned of a possible act of Russian sabotage. It is feared that Russian forces, after bombing the nuclear plant, now want to “raise the ante” and commit a terrorist attack, the statement said. Details were not given; Ukrainian information cannot be verified.
In doing so, the Ukrainian military intelligence service reflected a Russian warning that the Ukrainian side was planning a provocation at the nuclear plant on Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Kyiv of preparing a “provocation” in order to accuse Moscow of “creating a man-made catastrophe”. At the same time, the ministry warned that large parts of Europe could also be affected in the event of a nuclear accident. Russia also announced that the nuclear power plant’s backup systems were damaged. The nuclear plant could be closed if the alleged Ukrainian bombing continues.
APA/AFP/Ed Jones An escalation in the NPP case could have catastrophic consequences far beyond Ukraine’s borders
Russia rejects demilitarization proposals
Russia has so far rejected United Nations proposals for a demilitarization of the zone around the occupied nuclear plant. This is unacceptable because it makes the facility even more vulnerable to attack, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
On the contrary, Russia expects experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit the nuclear plant “very soon”. Such a mission was planned for a long time. Moscow has repeatedly said that the IAEA can convince itself that Russia is solely responsible for the safety of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
AKW: UN warning on nuclear catastrophe
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a nuclear catastrophe following the bombing of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. After a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv, Guterres was “very worried” about the situation at Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant. He again called for a demilitarization of the plant.
Erdogan believes in the end of the war “at the negotiating table”
Erdogan also announced after the summit that Turkey would continue its “efforts to find a solution” to the conflict. Turkey remains “on the side of our Ukrainian friends,” he stressed. The Turkish head of state has given himself the role of mediator in the conflict in Ukraine. In July, his government, together with the UN, negotiated agreements to resume grain exports from Ukrainian ports.
Analysis of the tripartite summit in Lviv
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to advocate a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. ORF correspondents Christian Wehrschütz (Ukraine) and Paul Krisai (Russia) analyze in ZIB2.
Erdogan remains confident of a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. “I continue to believe that the war will end at the negotiating table. In fact, Mr. Zelenskyy and Mr. Guterres see it that way too,” Erdogan said, according to the Turkish presidential palace.
The meeting in Lviv was an opportunity for the United Nations and Turkey to sound out a negotiated solution with Ukraine nearly six months after the Russian attack on Ukraine. UN circles believe that negotiations between the warring parties on a ceasefire are only possible if Russia and Ukraine can no longer gain ground and refrain from the goal of victory. However, Ukraine wants to reconquer lost territories, also so as not to leave its compatriots at the mercy of the Russian occupiers.