The EU has expressed concern about increasing nuclear safety and security risks in Ukraine.

The European Union expressed concern about Ukraine's “increased risk of nuclear safety and security” at its eighth meeting with senior officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held this Tuesday in Vienna.

Marjolijn van Deelen, Special Envoy for Non-Proliferation and Disarmament of the European Union, emphasized the full support of the EU for the initiative of the Secretary General Rafael Grossi of the IAEA to ensure the safety and security of all nuclear facilities in Ukraine.

Therefore, Van Deelen “resolutely” acknowledged the EU's commitment to multilateralism defense, “especially at a time when the Foundation is questioning” and stressed that “Europe's support for the implementation of the IAEA Order remains strong.”

In another statement, Grossi reported that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the national grid and is no longer dependent on emergency diesel generators for power. The IAEA also reported that electricity is being supplied to the nearby town of Slavotichi.

“The challenging employee situation, along with the power outages currently being solved in Chernobyl and communication problems in recent weeks, underlines the urgency of agreeing and implementing the IAEA initiative to ensure the safety of Ukrainian nuclear facilities,” said Grossi.

In this regard, Grossi was the first to point out that “it is not always possible to give a detailed answer”, since the information received about Chernobyl was “controlled by the Russian army”. The same was true at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant controlled by the Russian army since March 4.

Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine should accept its inability to join NATO and called for other ways of military cooperation in a video conference message about a meeting of European leaders in London.

“We realized that Ukraine was not going to become a NATO member, we know that we are reasonable people.” The President said. “Kiev needs a new format of interaction with the West and separate security guarantees,” he added.

Zelensky spoke at a meeting of Nordic and Baltic leaders convened by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (JEF) to discuss the security of Northern Europe in the face of growing threats from Russia.

The President of Ukraine also called for a complete “trade embargo” against Russia, noting that the international sanctions applied so far were “not enough”, regretting that the Atlantic Alliance did not apply a no-fly zone on Ukraine to prevent Russia's attack.

(Including information from the Europa Press)