Guterres warns against disconnecting nuclear power plants from the Ukrainian power grid

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Guterres at the port of Odessa: sadness at the sight of the empty terminals

Photo: VALENTYN OGIRENKO / REUTERS

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Russia not to disconnect Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant from the Ukrainian power grid.

“Of course, Zaporizhia electricity is Ukrainian electricity,” Guterres said at a press conference in the port city of Odessa.

"This principle must be fully respected."

The Ukrainian power plant operator Energoatom had previously expressed corresponding fears in the online service Telegram: "There is information that the Russian occupiers are planning to stop the operation of the reactors and cut them off from the supply lines of the Ukrainian energy system." Accordingly, the Russian military is looking for replenishment of diesel generators to be activated after the reactors are shut down and has restricted personnel access to the site.

The nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine, which has been under Russian control since March, is the largest in Europe.

It has already been shot at several times.

Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the attacks.

Guterres again described the attacks on Thursday as "suicidal" and called for a demilitarized zone around the nuclear facility.

Praise for the grain deal

The UN Secretary-General has been in Ukraine for a two-day visit since Thursday.

On Thursday he met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Turkish ruler Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a tripartite summit, which also discussed possible diplomatic attempts to end the war.

Guterres is currently in Odessa getting an idea of ​​the recently resumed grain exports.

It is cause for celebration that food exports have resumed, he said.

But he also feels sadness "when I look at this beautiful port and these terminals, which are practically empty."

At the same time, he praised the agreement reached by the warring parties, mediated by the UN and Turkey.

In less than a month, more than 600,000 tons of grain have left Ukraine in 25 ships.

Guterres stressed that access to both Ukrainian food and Russian food must be guaranteed.

Getting more food and fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia is important for commodity markets and prices.

Nobody expected that the implementation of the initiative would be easy.

mgo/AFP/dpa