Kyiv (dpa-AFX) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has called on the West to keep up the pressure on Moscow – also to force the return of the annexed Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. “I thank everyone for their support who is fighting for the return of full Ukrainian control over the power plant and its complete demilitarization,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Thursday. He described the 500 Russian soldiers in the nuclear facility as a disaster risk.
Kremlin chief Wladimir Putin took possession of the nuclear power plant for Russia on Wednesday as part of the annexation. Selenskyj called the step “worthless and stupid”. A nuclear power plant is not a palace that can be stolen, he alluded to revelations about Putin’s luxury palace on the Black Sea. At the same time, Selenskyj thanked the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi. He assured him that the IAEA only considered Ukraine to be the owner of the nuclear power plant.
Selenskyj also demanded diplomatic pressure from the EU in order to achieve the return of the nuclear power plant. Otherwise, Ukraine would not be able to produce superfluous electricity and export it to the EU, he warned. He praised the new EU sanctions package as a step in the right direction. At the same time, he urged that Russia should no longer be allowed to make any profits from oil and gas sales.
Selenskyj, on the other hand, only touched on his video appearance in front of the Lowy Institute in Sydney, which he said had met with approval from representatives from politics and business in Australia. Statements made by Zelensky during his presentation there, however, made waves: he had called on NATO to prevent the use of nuclear weapons by Russia at all costs, if necessary with preventive strikes. Zelenskyj’s spokesman later explained that he had been misunderstood. Zelenskyi’s statements provoked sharp criticism in the Kremlin./bal/DP/he