IAEA to send permanent missions to all nuclear plants in Ukraine

Photo taken on Aug 22, 2022 shows the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. (PHOTO/XINHUA)

MOSCOW/KYIV – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send permanent technical missions to all nuclear power plants (NNPs) in Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on Tuesday.

"Independent experts of the organization will work in Zaporizhzhia, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Pivdennoukrainsk, and Chernobyl NPPs," Shmyhal said on Telegram after his meeting with IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi in Paris, France.

Meanwhile, Shmyhal said that Ukraine will get $1 billion from its partners to go through the winter cold season, the government press service reported.

Shmyhal made the remarks during a joint press conference with French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna following the international conference "Standing With the Ukrainian People" held in Paris.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the country will get $1 billion from its partners to go through the winter cold season, the government press service reported

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Out of the aid, $500 million will be allocated to Ukraine as grants, while the rest of the sum will be delivered in the form of goods, services and loans, Shmyhal said.

According to him, Ukraine will receive most of the aid by the end of this year.

Earlier this week, Shmyhal said that his country requires at least $1 billion for the emergency support of energy infrastructure that was damaged by Russian attacks.

ALSO READ: Minister: Ukraine needs 4b euros for winter season

"Ukraine needs help today. Half of our energy infrastructure has been damaged due to Russia's attacks on the electric power system," Shmyhal said on Telegram.

The damage caused to the electricity industry and the heating supply sector affects all sectors of the Ukrainian economy, he noted, adding that Ukraine in total would need about $600 billion for the post-conflict reconstruction.

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on Sept 30, 2022, shows Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky leading a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council in Kiev. (HANDOUT / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP)

In his address to the Group of Seven online summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the first step to "accelerate the coming of peace" to Ukraine entitled "new force" envisages increasing defense support for Ukraine, including tanks, rocket artillery and long-range missiles

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed three steps to "accelerate the coming of peace" to Ukraine, said the presidential press service.

In his address to the Group of Seven online summit, Zelensky said the first step entitled "new force" envisages increasing defense support for Ukraine, including tanks, rocket artillery and long-range missiles.  

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Separately, commenting on peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that it is impossible to move towards peace without taking into account the new realities in Ukraine that Russia has got new territories as a result of referendums.

It is also impossible to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine before the end of the year, he told a daily briefing on Tuesday.

READ MORE: Zelensky outlines key challenges for Ukraine

Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that more than 400 Ukrainian "nationalists and persons who committed war crimes" have been detained at checkpoints while trying to cross the Russian state border since the beginning of this year.