Putin tells IAEA’s Grossi that situation at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant “of concern”

Russian President Vladimir Putin told International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi on Tuesday that the situation around Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “of concern”.

At a meeting in St Petersburg shown on Russian state television, Putin told Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, that Russia was open for dialogue and would discuss “all issues” concerning the facility’s operations.

Putin also said there had been “excessive, dangerous politicisation” of everything to do with nuclear activity.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, has been a key flashpoint in Russia’s nearly eight-month military campaign in Ukraine.

Captured by Russia in early March, the facility remains close to the frontlines, and has repeatedly come under shelling, inflicting so far minor damage but raising fears of a nuclear disaster. Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of shelling the plant. Grossi led an IAEA mission to it in August.