Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi in Kiev earlier that day, the former's press service stated on Tuesday.
"We want not only a check, which is a tactical action, but also strategic decisions. The power plant is owned by Ukraine and controlled by Ukrainian specialists," Zelensky said on that occasion. He also stressed the need to "urgently demilitarize the power plant, withdraw any Russian military with explosives, any weapons, liberate our power plant, create a demilitarized area and return the power plant under control of the Ukrainian state."
The meeting came ahead of the agency's mission's visit to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which has been a major matter of dispute between Russia and Ukraine during their ongoing conflict in the latter country. Both Moscow and Kiev accused each other of shelling the plant and preventing the IAEA's mission from taking place.
