President Zelensky Asks UN To Ensure Security And Demilitarization Of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lyiv. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - The United Nations must ensure the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) occupied by Russian troops, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after meeting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

President Zelensky said, meeting in Lviv, he and Guterres discussed a UN-brokered deal to ease the worsening global food crisis, and agreed that coordination of efforts under him to ensure Ukrainian exports should continue.

"Particular attention is paid to the topic of Russia's nuclear 'threat' at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. This deliberate terror on the part of the aggressor could have catastrophic global consequences for the whole world," Zelensky wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

"Therefore, the United Nations must ensure the security of this strategic object, its demilitarization and the complete liberation of Russian forces," he said.

Kyiv accuses Moscow of using the nuclear plant as a shield to fire on Ukrainian targets. He also said Russia had fired on the plant. Instead, Moscow says it was Ukraine that opened fire on the facility.

Yesterday, Russia said it could shut down Europe's largest nuclear power plant if shelling continued, a move Kyiv said would increase the risk of a nuclear disaster there.