US Senator Robert Menendez's letter to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi about the Russian Federation and a Ukrainian nuclear power plant represents US interference in the affairs of the agency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2022) US Senator Robert Menendez's letter to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi about the Russian Federation and a Ukrainian nuclear power plant represents US interference in the affairs of the agency, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
The agency noted that on March 28, Menendez, who heads the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, had sent a letter to Grossi, in which he demanded immediate steps to "prevent sabotage" of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure by the Russian Armed Forces.
"This is an example of blatant interference in the affairs of the IAEA, the charter of which clearly states that the director general, in the performance of his duties, should not receive instructions from any source outside the agency. In addition, each member of the IAEA, pledging to respect the international nature of the duties of the director general and staff, should not try to influence them in the performance of their duties. Who, if not the head of the relevant committee of the Senate, is supposed to know such elementary truths," the statement says.
Zakharova also called Menendez's call for the IAEA to prevent the transport of nuclear fuel from Ukraine and the dismantling of equipment for export to Russia completely inappropriate.
"Specially for the senator and his aides, we explain: on the contrary, it is Russia that delivers nuclear fuel to Ukraine (the last time was at the end of February for the Rivne nuclear power plant). The four Russian freight forwarders who accompanied the delivery are still illegally detained in Ukraine and under threat are forced to read on camera anti-Russian statements prepared for them," she said.
Moscow is seeking the release of Russians, which are held hostage, she said.
"It has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the international community that the Russian military took the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant under protection solely in order to prevent terrorist attacks, like the one that the Ukrainian sabotage group tried to carry out against the Zaporizhzhia plant on March 4," Zakharova added.
She stressed that Ukrainian operators continued to work at these nuclear power plants, and there was no interference in their activities.
Moscow also supported the efforts of the IAEA director general aimed at ensuring the proper level of physical nuclear security of the mentioned facilities, Zakharova said.
According to her, Menendez's "outrageous" calls are aimed at undermining the foundations of the functioning of international organizations, at turning them into appendages of the destructive US policy.
