Borrell: Russia putting in danger entirety of our joint European continent
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, states that as a result of the rocket attacks that led to the blackout of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, Russia increased the risk of an accident, which put the entire European continent, including the Russian Federation itself, on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe.
He made such a statement in Stockholm on Thursday at the end of the meeting of the European Council at the ministerial level on development.
“The bad news is that Russia does not stop its barbaric attacks, and again it has struck Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. During the night, and during our meeting, more than 80 rockets have been launched by Russia – rockets and drones. Another massive attack during night all across the country, killing innocent civilians and causing serious damage. Among this damage is the attack against the Zaporizhia nuclear [power] plant, which has been disconnected again from the Ukrainian electricity grid, significantly increasing the risk of a nuclear accident. I am sorry to say that, but the risk of a nuclear accident has increased a lot in the last hours. The [power] plant has to rely on diesel generators for the cooling of its reactors.
This is a serious breach to the nuclear safety, caused by Russia. Zaporizhia is the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe – the biggest in Europe – and Russia is putting in danger the entirety of our joint European continent, Russia included,” he said.
Borrell stated that the EU supports the International Atomic Energy Agency’s expert mission in the zone. “The Agency calls for a nuclear safety zone around the nuclear plant. The security of the site must be guaranteed in order to avoid any risks of an accident. These recent attacks of Russia are another example of their objective. Their objective is to terrorise the Ukrainian people and to lower the Ukrainian morale. It shows that Russia is not interested in peace and its talks about ‘peace’, or a ‘ceasefire’ are utterly insincere. That is why we have to continue supporting Ukraine,” Borrell is convinced.