MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - Russia remains permanently in touch with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, and the work on setting up a safety and security zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is continuing, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
"The very concept is evolving. It's not like something that used to exist has now been cast aside and something new has appeared instead. We're permanently in touch with Grossi, everyone's working, and nothing has been made final yet," Ryabkov told journalists on Thursday, commenting on Grossi's earlier remark that a new and smaller safety and security zone around the ZNPP was being discussed.
Russia has informed Grossi and his staff members of its preferences and its vision regarding what the ZNPP safety and security zone should look like, including the IAEA's role in this, he said.
Ukraine and "the United States, which is covering Kiev," assumed a destructive position on the matter and are ignoring the security interests of this major nuclear facility, Ryabkov said.