Leading Russian politicians are rejecting the G7’s demand that Moscow hand control of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant back to Ukraine.
“No and no again,’’ Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, answered in response to a question on Friday, according to the Interfax agency.
Meanwhile, to ensure the safety of the nuclear power plant, he said complete control over the facility was necessary.
However, Kosachev received support from the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma, Leonid Slutsky, who accused Ukraine of “nuclear terrorism.’’
“And all the statements of support by the G7 foreign ministers are nothing but sponsorship of nuclear terrorism,’’ he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Slutsky did not mention that the situation around the nuclear power plant arose as a result of Russia’s invasion.
Kiev and Moscow have traded blame for recent shelling at the site, that raised fears of a potential nuclear disaster.
