07 September 2022, Wednesday, 11:48 580

Putin may use IAEA’s report on Zaporizhzhia NPP to try to organize Minsk-3 – ISW

Редактор: Roman Vaniyan

Russian President Vladimir Putin may try to use the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission on the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to create a process similar to the Minsk agreements.

That follows from a statement by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The Institute believes that the slightly coded language of the IAEA report reflects the fact that Ukraine remains the operator of the Zaporizhzhia NPP and the party responsible for its safe operation and compliance with IAEA international law.

The IAEA cannot engage directly with Russia on the operation of the station without at least tacitly acknowledging that Russia has a right to be consulted.

According to analysts, Putin may try to use the conditions he created at the Zaporizhzhia NPP to create a parallel international structure that would undermine Ukraine's sovereign rights over the much larger territory currently occupied by Russian forces.

"Putin may try to take advantage of the situation to try to create a process similar to the Minsk agreements that established a ceasefire after the Russian invasion in 2014," the report said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the IAEA confirmed that Russia has placed its military equipment directly in the engine rooms of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

On September 1, the IAEA mission arrived at the Zaporizhzhia NPP headed by IAEA Director General Raphael Grossi, after a few hours Grossi and most of the mission members left the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, 6 observers remained at the station. Grossi made his first comment after visiting the Zaporizhzhia NPP in Enerhodar - he noted that the permanent mission of the organization will function at the plant.

However, President Zelenskyy, commenting on Grossi's statement, said that Ukraine did not hear the call of the IAEA mission to the Russian Federation to demilitarize the station.