Putin assures Grossi that they are willing to talk to deal with the situation at the Zaporizhia plant

The situation is "increasingly dangerous, precarious and challenging", according to Grossi

MADRID, 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has indicated this Tuesday in a meeting with the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg that they are willing to talk to deal with the situation of the plant Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

The Russian president has told Grossi that from Moscow they are "open to dialogue" about the future of the plant, located in Zaporiyia, one of the regions annexed after recent referendums held in areas occupied by Russian troops, adjacent to Donetsk , Lugansk and Jerson.

For his part, Grossi has expressed concern about the situation at the nuclear power plant, since the situation is "increasingly dangerous, precarious and challenging", with "frequent military attacks that can also threaten nuclear security".

"Now more than ever, during these extremely difficult times, a protection zone must be established around the Zaporizhia nuclear plant. We cannot afford to waste any more time. The stakes are high," he said, according to an IAEA statement.

During the meeting, Putin also stressed that there are "excessively dangerous politicization elements in everything related to nuclear activity", a "dangerous" rhetoric that should be reduced in order to cooperate among all "in a normal situation", despite of "all the turbulence and complex processes taking place on the world stage".

"We have always defended that all States have equal access to the benefits of peaceful atomic energy and, at the same time, we believe that everything possible should be done to limit the spread of nuclear energy (for use) in the military", he specified, according to the TASS news agency.

Thus, Putin recalled that "Russia has not only always supported the IAEA, but has also been at the origins" of the United Nations nuclear agency since 1957. "In many aspects, Russia occupies a leading position in the world in the field of nuclear development," he added.

In recent hours, Russia has intensified its attacks on several cities, including kyiv, but also Lviv, Zaporizhia, or Kharkov, in response to what Russian President Vladimir Putin described as a "terrorist attack" in relation to the destruction on Saturday from the Kerch bridge, which connects Russia with the Crimean peninsula.