Putin warns of ‘catastrophic consequences’

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Sunday of the “catastrophic consequences” of an attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe and occupied by Russian forces, the Kremlin said.

In a telephone interview with Mr Macron, Vladimir Putin said “regular Ukrainian attacks against the sites of the Zaporizhia power plant, including the deposition of radioactive waste, could lead to catastrophic consequences,” a statement from the Kremlin said.

The Russian president told his French counterpart “the measures taken by Russian experts to ensure the safety of the plant and the need to put pressure on the Kyiv authorities so that the bombings targeting the plant stop immediately” .

According to the press release, the two leaders expressed their willingness to “cooperate in a non-political manner on the situation surrounding the Zaporizhia power plant, in partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).”

According to the Kremlin, the interview took place at the initiative of the French president.

During the telephone conversation, Vladimir Putin once again condemned the delivery of Western weapons to the Kyiv regime, which he said was used for “massive bombing of the civilian infrastructure of the cities of Donbass”, a mining basin in the east of Ukraine.

The two leaders had already spoken by telephone on August 19 about the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Located in southern Ukraine and controlled by Russian forces, the plant, Europe’s largest, has been bombed several times in recent weeks, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of the attacks.

This situation led to a major disaster such as the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

On Sunday, Ukraine announced the shutdown of the sixth and final operating reactor at the Zaporizhia power plant, citing the need for cooling.