The group’s foreign ministers urged Russia not to return a crucial plant to Ukraine.
According to the Group of Seven (G7), Russia must hand the Zaporozhye nuke power station it took in the early March over to Kiev officials.
“We insist that Russia give back the complete control of Zaporizhzhia to Ukraine as its sovereign sovereign.” says a statement released on Wednesday, penned by the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US.
According to the diplomats, the move is necessary to ensure the facility’s “Operation safe and secured” On top of that, the G7 once again called on Russia to “withdraw its troops from within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and respect Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty.”
The statement came only a day after Moscow summoned an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss “Ukrainian provocation” – a reference to a series of shelling attacks the power plant has come under in recent days. This meeting is scheduled to occur on Thursday.
Russia accused Ukraine of conducting drone and artillery attacks at its nuclear site. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Kiev of holding the whole of Europe hostage, saying their government officials “apparently won’t hesitate to burn it for the sake of their Nazi idols.”
Kiev is also strongly denying these allegations and claiming that it was Russian troops who attacked the site to capture Ukrainian forces. Moreover, the country’s National Security Council claims that Moscow is using the plant grounds as a military base, with hardware, ammunition, and personnel allegedly stationed there.
On Saturday, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed concern over the artillery strikes, warning of the “There is a very real danger of nuclear catastrophe that could pose a threat to the public’s health and the environment, in Ukraine as well as elsewhere.”
For a while, the official wanted to make a personal visit to the power plant as part of an inspection group. These plans were canceled due to security issues.
Watchdog says Zaporozhye is Europe’s largest plant and has tens or more tons of enriched and plutonium stored in reactor cores as well spent fuel storage.
In early March, soon after Moscow’s offensive began, Russian forces seized the facility and have been controlling it ever since.
The nuclear power station was taken over by Russian soldiers, but it’s still being maintained and operated by Ukrainian personnel.
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