While Russia and Ukraine remain at odds over the terms of negotiations to end the conflict, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on July 26 continued to reaffirm its persistent concerns about the nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in southern Ukraine.
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| Ukrainian President Zelensky and Russian President Putin. (Source: Getty Images) |
In an interview with Ukrainian television on July 26, Mikhail Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Kiev was ready to negotiate peace with Moscow on “fair” terms, but said that Russia was not ready for such an agreement.
The senior Ukrainian official stressed that Kiev is looking for effective negotiations, but not leading to a freezing of the conflict, but to its complete end.
Mr. Mikhail Podoliak called on the international community to increase pressure on Russia and strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities to achieve the goal.
Meanwhile, also on July 26, Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Maxim Buyakevich accused Ukrainian President Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba of lying when they declared their readiness to negotiate with any Russian representative.
“We have drawn attention to Mr Zelensky’s recent interview with the BBC , in which he stated his readiness to seek an end to the hot phase of the conflict by the end of the year. Mr Zelensky also said that Kiev is ready to negotiate with any Russian representative, including President Putin. Foreign Minister Kuleba said the same in Beijing, on July 23,” Mr Buyakevich said.
However, Mr. Maxim Buyakevich added, “the leaders of the Kiev government “forgot” to revoke the executive decree signed by Ukrainian President Zelensky on September 30, 2022, which imposed an indefinite ban on any contacts with the Russian leadership related to the settlement of the conflict.”
The Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the OSCE concluded that Kiev's steps “have nothing in common with efforts to resolve the conflict and achieve a lasting and just peace.”
* On July 26, the Ukrainian military announced that it had attacked a Russian military airport in Crimea overnight. The Ukrainian military posted on Telegram that the airport in Saky had been attacked, adding that the results of the attack were being clarified. The announcement stated: “This is one of the active airports that Russia uses to control airspace, especially the Black Sea, and to launch airstrikes on Ukrainian territory.”
* In a statement, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi noted the difficulty in fully maintaining key safety systems and other critical equipment at ZNPP amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“At all nuclear power plants worldwide, maintenance is essential to prevent deterioration of reactor structures, systems and components… if not carried out regularly and comprehensively, this could increase the risk of a future nuclear accident,” Mr. Grossi warned.
Over the past week, IAEA experts at ZNPP have conducted a number of inspections, focusing on monitoring maintenance activities across the entire plant area and the status of spare parts needed for the nuclear power plant. According to the statement, the IAEA team did not report any nuclear safety issues related to the maintenance activities.
* India's WION TV channel quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Ukraine in August.
According to WION, the Indian Prime Minister's visit could take place in the third week of August, most likely on August 23.
In a recent phone call, President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Prime Minister Modi to visit Ukraine. Earlier in July, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. In addition, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also had a phone call with Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak.
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