G7 Foreign Ministers and High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell voiced their support for the IAEA´s efforts to promote Nuclear Safety and Security at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
In a statement by the EU External Action on Thursday, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and Borrell reiterated their strongest condemnation of the ongoing aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
The Russian Federation must immediately withdraw its troops from within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders and respect Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty, they said in the statement.
“In that context, we demand that Russia immediately hand back full control to its rightful sovereign owner, Ukraine, of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant as well as of all nuclear facilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders to ensure their safe and secure operations,” it noted.
“Ukrainian staff operating the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be able to carry out their duties without threats or pressure. It is Russia’s continued control of the plant that endangers the region.”
The statement said “We remain profoundly concerned by the serious threat that the seizure of Ukrainian nuclear facilities and other actions by Russian armed forces pose to the safety and security of these facilities, significantly raising the risk of a nuclear accident or incident and endangering the population of Ukraine, neighbouring states and the international community. It also undermines the IAEA’s ability to monitor Ukraine’s peaceful nuclear activities for safeguarding purposes.”
“And we welcome and support IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s efforts to strengthen nuclear safety and security in Ukraine and we thank the Director General and the IAEA staff for their steadfast commitment in this regard.”
They said that against this background, they underlined the importance of facilitating a mission of IAEA experts to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant to address nuclear safety, security and safeguard concerns, in a manner that respects full Ukrainian sovereignty over its territory and infrastructure.
Adding in the statement “We strongly endorse the importance of the Seven Pillars of Nuclear Safety and Security as outlined by Director General Grossi.”
“We reiterate our full and continued support for the IAEA. IAEA staff must be able to access all nuclear facilities in Ukraine safely and without impediment, and engage directly, and without interference, with the Ukrainian personnel responsible for the operation of these facilities. The safety of all individuals implementing these efforts must be addressed to strengthen nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine.”
“We encourage all countries to support the IAEA’s efforts.”
