Kremlin Spokesman Says Russia Never Deployed Heavy Weapons at Zaporozhye NPP

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian heavy weapons have never been and are not now deployed at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had achieved a "withdrawal of heavy and light weapons" from the ZNPP.

"I would like to remind you remarks by President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin that there has not been any and are no heavy weapons at the power plant itself, and representatives of the IAEA, who are present there day and night, can definitely confirm this," Peskov told journalists.

Russia highly appreciates and continues talks with the IAEA on the security of the station, he added.

Director General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi said earlier in the day that work on ensuring safety and security of the ZNNP was in progress.

Located on the left bank of the Dnepr River, the ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe by number of units and output. During the military operation in Ukraine launched by Russia on February 24, the station and surrounding area went under the control of the Russian forces and have since been shelled multiples times. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the attacks.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik in early December that it was untimely to say that Russia and Ukraine were close to agreeing on the creation of a safety zone around the ZNPP, as it was unclear whether Kiev was ready to stop the shelling of the plant.