Russia, UN nuclear watchdog may hold talks on Zaporizhzhia plant

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian authorities said on Friday a new round of talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant may take place in Moscow soon.

"Contacts to prevent its shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine are now continuing. Soon, there we will follow such talks, including in Moscow. We have trust in the competence and potential of the IAEA. We keep in touch with them," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Commenting on ammonia deliveries via Ukraine, Vershinin said the discussions on the issues continue. Moscow sees a settlement of the disputes as "a commercial deal without political conditions," which will have "positive implications for global food security."

Turning to the grain deal, Vershinin said the first stage showed the necessity of adjustments in the part of grain distribution and the transparency of such movements.

"If there are no such adjustments, then we should ask ourselves: what is all this being done for -- for commercial purposes, for political purposes, or in order to really ensure global security in the world and take into account the interests of the world's poorest countries?" he said.

Vershinin added that Russia is in touch with Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), on the progress of the grain deal, meetings take place monthly, a new video conference will take place within several days.

Vershinin said there are no changes regarding the implementation of the Russian part of the grain deal.

According to him, US and EU "recommendations" are not enough for "operators" of agricultural trade, to exempt Russian food and fertilizers from sanctions. It is necessary to talk about lifting restrictions from "operations" -- insurance, payments, freight, opening access to ports, he said.

Switching Russia's agricultural bank, Rosselkhozbank, back to SWIFT will be "the central moment" of freeing Russia's agricultural products from sanctions, he said.

"Now some efforts are being made, but these efforts have not given any final result. I wouldn't speak about time framework (of lifting sanctions), we speak about the necessity to do it as soon as possible," he added.