Russia guarantees safety of nuclear power plants in Ukraine | News

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French colleague, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday that the safety of the nuclear plants in Ukraine, under Russian control, is guaranteed and showed his willingness to continue the dialogue with the Kiev government.

READ ALSO:

Evacuations progress in Mariupol and Volnovakha with difficulties

In a telephone conversation, Putin "drew attention to the fact that Ukraine continues not to respect the agreements reached on humanitarian issues" and added that "Ukrainian nationalists prevented the evacuation" of Mariupol and Volnovakha, a nearby city, on Saturday, reported the Kremlin press service.

The call between the two leaders, which lasted for an hour and a half, occurs when the third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations in search of a solution to the bilateral conflict and the cessation of hostilities will take place tomorrow, Monday, March 7, according to a member of the Kiev delegation.

Putin blamed Ukrainian radicals for last Friday's attack on Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear plant, in an incident that temporarily sparked panic of a new nuclear catastrophe similar to that of Chernobyl in 1986.

Putin assured his French counterpart that radiation levels at the plant are normal and that right now the facility is under the control of a hybrid force of Russian and Ukrainian security guards.

The attack on the plant, the largest in Europe, caused a fire that was later brought under control.

According to the note, Putin stressed to Macron that the "provocation" in the plant area was organized by "Ukrainian radicals (...) with the participation of a sabotage group."

The Russian president also described as an "element of a cynical propaganda campaign the attempts to transfer responsibility for the incident [en torno a la central] to Russian military".

He added that the Russian Armed Forces "also control the Chernobyl nuclear plant", stressing that "all this is done to exclude the possibility of Ukrainian neo-Nazis or terrorists organizing provocations that could lead to catastrophic consequences."

Putin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that it is "not his intention" to attack Ukrainian nuclear power plants, the French presidency said on Sunday after a telephone conversation between the two leaders.

"President Putin said that it was not his intention to proceed with attacks against these plants. He also said that he is willing to respect the rules of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) on the protection of plants," the French presidency told the press. press.