MELITOPOL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th August, 2022) The Zaporizhzhia regional authorities are ready to accept a visit by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) and provide them security, the head of the regional military-civil administration Yevgeny Balitsky (Yevhen Balytskyi) told Sputnik.
"We are ready to receive an IAEA mission, we are ready to provide them with full security on our part, we are ready to provide them with access to the station and the adjacent territory so that they can assess the real situation, inspect the shelling sites and get proof that shelling is carried out from the territory controlled by Ukraine... The main question is whether Ukraine is ready to adhere to a ceasefire for the duration of the mission," Balitsky said.
He added that he doubted that Kiev was going to allow the IAEA to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
"Ukraine is doing everything to prevent the IAEA mission from entering the station," Balitsky told Sputnik, adding "I think the Kiev regime will do everything, find any excuse, to prevent the IAEA representatives from coming. This visit is not beneficial for Ukraine."
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday that "intense discussions" were underway about when an IAEA expert team would visit ZNPP. US media reported last week that preparations were underway for the visit and that the experts were likely to inspect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this week.
