Russian troops begin withdrawing from Kherson region, Kiev claims to have recaptured twelve locations

Negotiations begin to establish a buffer zone around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia “too complicated”, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Croci lamented Thursday. Europe’s largest power plant has been occupied by Russian troops since early March. Moscow and Qi continue to accuse each other of bombing bases. Discussions on this safe zone, called specifically by the UN Secretary-General, began several weeks ago at the initiative of the IAEA.

“It’s been too long, I was impatient at first, but I can’t lose patience, I have to keep trying.”Raffaele Grossi gave an interview to Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of COP27 in Egypt. “These are very complicated negotiations, as you can imagine, two countries at war don’t negotiate with each other. I’m trying to get these two countries to agree to the idea of ​​protecting this nuclear power plant.”, he continued and said that he had spoken to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine about this. However, he has“faith” A to achieve “foot”. Amidst the difficulties, Raffaele Croci explains that his interlocutors were not only diplomats but also soldiers. “This makes negotiations very sensitive when it comes to radius [de protection autour de la centrale], when talking about defining what military equipment is authorized or prohibited. You can imagine they are looking at this from a combat angle. »

The diplomat also expressed his opinion “concern” On Russia’s possible aid to nuclear weapons, his company believes it can mitigate the risk. Referring to reports of a dirty bomb in production on the Ukrainian side, according to Russian officials, he recalled that the IAEA sent inspectors to three sites and found none. “No sign of undeclared nuclear activities”. “These allegations were made rhetorically, including the suggestion that nuclear weapons might be used in retaliation after the use of the dirty bomb.” But “We have calmed down these allegations, we have calmed down the situation”While insisting that it won’t work, Mr. Croce promised “Not necessarily every time (…). We must not forget that this is a war, so the worries will continue until there is peace.”.