This was stated by Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a visit to Ukraine, while the Turkish President wants to avoid a “new Chernobyl”.
The UN Secretary-General on Thursday warned that any damage to Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant would be a “suicide,” while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he feared a “new Chernobyl” during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Lviv . . “We have to say things as they are: any potential harm to Zaporijjia would be suicide,” said Antonio Guterres, again calling for the “demilitarization” of the plant occupied by the Russian army.
Antonio Guterres said he was “seriously concerned” about the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and called for it “not to be used for any military operation”. The secretary-general continues his visit on Friday to Odessa, a Ukrainian port crucial for resuming grain exports blocked by the war.
“New Chernobyl”
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s support for Ukraine and expressed alarm at the risk of a “new Chernobyl” in light of the world’s largest civilian nuclear accident. Reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl power plant exploded on April 26, 1986, releasing a radioactive cloud that spread across Europe. “While we continue our efforts to find a solution, we have been and continue to be on the side of our Ukrainian friends,” Recep Erdogan said, adding that he did not want “a new Chernobyl”.
The power plant in the south of the country, which has been occupied since the beginning of March, has been the victim of bombing since the end of July, of which Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other. On Thursday evening, an official with the pro-Russian occupation administration of the Zaporiyah region, Vladimir Rogov, accused Ukrainian forces of bombing Energodar, the town near the nuclear power plant. President Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the visit of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Lviv was a “strong message of support” for his country. He ruled out any peace talks with Moscow without the prior withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
Also readWar in Ukraine: Zaporijjia, the powerhouse of all dangers
“People who kill, rape, hit with cruise missiles our civilian cities every day cannot want peace. You should leave our territory first, then we’ll see,” Voloymyr Zelensky told a press conference in Lviv, saying “not to trust Russia.” In the morning, the Russian army assured that, contrary to claims in Kyiv, they had not stationed “heavy weapons” in and around the Zaporizhia power plant.
For his part, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba announced on Twitter that the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, had told him he was “ready” to head the work in a delegation. The day before, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, had considered such an inspection by the IAEA to be “urgent”.
SEE ALSO – Ukraine: Damaging the Zaporijia nuclear power plant would be “suicide” for Antonio Guterres.