The UN would not have prevented or blocked an operation by the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, unlike what Moscow has said. “The UN Secretariat has no authority to block or cancel activities of the IAEA,” said spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday.
The IAEA acts independently, he added in New York. Dujarric stressed that Ukraine could ensure the protection of such a mission from Ukrainian-controlled territory. “But there has to be an agreement between Russia and Ukraine” – after all, the power plant is currently on Russian-controlled territory.
Recently there had been disagreements about what a route for the IAEA experts could look like. Ukraine would not allow a mission solely through Russian-held territory, such as through Crimea or through any other route across the Russian-Ukrainian border. For weeks, Ukraine and Russia have been accusing each other of shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, thereby causing a nuclear catastrophe.
Source: Nachrichten
