“The situation is serious,” the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told the UN Security Council on Thursday, demanding access to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant that Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of bombing.
• Also Read: Ukraine: New attacks at Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, UN concerned
“The situation is serious and the IAEA should be authorized to carry out its mission in Zaporizhia as soon as possible”, declared Rafael Grassi, speaking on video during this emergency meeting of the Security Council.
“Time is running out,” he insisted, as the IAEA had been trying for weeks to send a mission to inspect the plant.
The site of the Zaporizhia power plant, Europe’s largest, which has been under Russian control since early March, was bombed again on Thursday.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres again rejected the idea on Thursday when asked about allegations that the UN was responsible for the delay in sending the IAEA mission there.
“This is a nuclear power plant in the middle of the battlefield. I think we can imagine at least two or three pages of obstacles,” said Stéphane Dujarric.
Antonio Guterres and the United States on Thursday called for a demilitarized zone around the plant to guarantee the safety of the site and allow for an inspection mission.
“Unfortunately, rather than intensifying, more alarming incidents have been reported in recent days which, if continued, could lead to catastrophe,” Antonio Guterres said in a statement.
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