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<strong>Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is ready for a trilateral meeting with the Ukrainians and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure the safety of Ukrainian atomic power plants</strong></p>
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to a meeting on the safety of Ukrainian nuclear plants, but that it should not be in Chernobyl, the location suggested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General</p>
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In a Sunday phone call with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, Putin slammed Ukrainian radicals of causing a &ldquo;provocation&rdquo;&nbsp;at the Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant. He added that a &ldquo;sabotage group,&rdquo; was also involved in initiating the incident.</p>
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The March 4 shootout and fire at Ukraine&rsquo;s Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant, Europe&rsquo;s largest had alarmed the world, fearing that it could have triggered a nuclear radiation disaster.</p>
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&ldquo;Attempts to blame the Russian military for this incident are part of a cynical propaganda campaign,&rdquo;&nbsp;Putin said, according to a Kremlin statement.</p>
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Putin responded to the suggestion by Grossi to hold a trilateral (IAEA, Ukraine and Russia) meeting in the Chernobyl zone. Putin noted that &ldquo;in principle this idea (0f a trilateral meeting) could be useful&rdquo;. The IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi had suggested that the meeting could take place in Chernobyl, the site of&nbsp;a massive nuclear disaster, when Ukraine was part of the former Soviet Union.</p>
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But, rejecting Chernobyl as the venue, Putin said that he preferred a meeting&nbsp;&ldquo;via videoconference or in a third country.&rdquo;</p>
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According to the Elysee, Putin did not object to the IAEA taking immediate steps to ensure the safety of all Ukrainian nuclear plants, following his two-hour conversation with Macron.</p>
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The Russian President stressed that Russian troops are maintaining the &ldquo;physical and nuclear safety&rdquo;&nbsp;of the Zaporozhskaya nuclear plant, along with Ukrainian security and personnel. He added that the Russians were also controlling the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.</p>
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&ldquo;All this is being done in order to exclude the possibility of provocations fraught with catastrophic consequences by Ukrainian neo-Nazis or terrorists,&rdquo;&nbsp;the Kremlin said.</p>
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<strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/putin-assures-macron-ukranian-nuclear-power-plants-pose-no-radiation-risk-155247.html">Putin assures Macron – Ukranian nuclear power plants pose no radiation risk</a></strong></p>
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<strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/world-news/ukraine-stored-documents-on-nuclear-weapons-in-zaporizhzhia-report-155215.html ">Ukraine stored documents on Nuclear weapons in Zaporizhzhia: Report</a></strong></p>
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