The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the Zaporoža nuclear power plant is a Russian facility and cannot be handed over under the control of Ukraine or another state. The Zaporožská nuclear power plant, which has been occupied in the same area, Russia since the beginning of the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is the largest power plant in Europe with six blocks. Located on the shore of Dnepra near the front line, both sides of the conflict are blamed for each other of its firing. According to Reuters report, TASR reports this.
The Russian Ministry also declared that the joint operation of the power plant is not admissible because it would not be possible to properly ensure the “physical and nuclear safety” of the power plant.
It claims that the Zaporoza region, which is partially controlled by Russian forces, is one of the four Ukrainian areas that Russia annexed through a referendum, organized seven months after the beginning of the Russian invasion and the presidential decree formally became Russian property. The West rejected the referendums as underwater, recalls Reuters.
“The return of the station to the Russian nuclear sector has been a time for a long time,” said the Russian Ministry of Diplomacy. “The transfer of the Zaporozhi power plant under the control of Ukraine or another country is impossible,” the ministry added.
According to Reuters, Kiev asks for the return of the power plant under its jurisdiction and rejects the annexation of the Ukrainian territory by referendums from autumn 2022 as illegal.
US President Donald Trump suggested this month during a call with the Ukrainian counterparts Volodymyr Zelensky that the United States could help operate and possibly own Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The Ukrainian President said the power plants belong to the Ukrainian people. He added that with Trump they discussed potential US investments in a power plant, writes Reuters.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin published a list of energy infrastructure covered by a ceasefire that agreed in Saudi Arabia at separate negotiations by the United States, Russia and Ukraine delegations. According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will be applied to refineries, oil pipelines, pipelines and oil storage facilities, including pumping stations. The attacks will also be prohibited for the infrastructure determined by the production and transfer of electricity, especially to the power plants, the switchgear, the transformers, the switchboards, the nuclear power plants and the hydroelectric power plants.
