UN Secretariat Refused to Approve IAEA Visit to Zaporozhye Nuclear Plant - Russian FM

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) - Russia was willing to assist the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with a potential visit to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, but the United Nations Secretariat refused to approve such a visit, Russian Foreign Ministry Nonproliferation and Arms Control Department Deputy Director Igor Vishnevetsky said.

"We were prepared to assist the IAEA in organizing an international mission headed by the Director General to assess the situation of this largest nuclear power plant on the territory of Europe," Vishnevetsky said on Wednesday. "We came to an agreement regarding the time-line of the visits, the very complex logistics as well as security arrangements. However, just days before the proposed arrival of the IAEA delegation, the Secretariat of the United Nations refused to approve this visit."

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that an IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was blocked by the United Nations Secretariat for political reasons.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi responded by saying the mission was not blocked but the United Nations Scretariat needed to secure an agreement by all sides and that was not possible at the time.

However, Vishnevetsky said Russia is convinced that refusing approving the IAEA visit played into the hands of Kiev and its Western backers, which expressed doubts about the advisability of such a visits as it remains "occupied,"

"We are convinced that Kiev intended to disrupt it from the very beginning in order to prevent an undesirable assessment," Vishnevetsky said.

Since March, the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has been under full control of Russian forces, but Ukrainian forces have repeatedly attacked it by drones, prompting Russia to seek IAEA assistance in addressing the plant's security concerns.