Moscow says NATO leaders should discuss Ukraine nuclear plant – POLITICO

Russia said Sunday that NATO leaders should discuss conditions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant at their summit this week, as an accident at the facility could affect alliance members’ territories.

Ukraine warned last week that Moscow could prepare to blow up the nuclear power plant, leading to a radioactive disaster, after Russian workers were told to leave the facility.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday accused Kiev of “systematically inflicting damage” on the Zaporizhzhia plant and warned of the possible fallout from a disaster there.

“The main attention should be paid” to the Zaporizhzhia facility at the NATO meeting starting on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said said in a Telegram post. “After all, the vast majority of alliance members will be in the direct impact zone” of any potential accident, she said.

Leaders of the NATO alliance will meet on 11-12 July in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, about 1,200 kilometers away from the Zaporizhzhia plant. The summit will discuss crucial issues, including the supply of arms to Kiev and the accession of Sweden and Ukraine.

According to experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are no “visible indications of mines or explosives” at the Zakharova plant, says IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on July 7.