Lavrov says Trump made no proposals to Russia about Europe’s biggest nuclear plant

(MENAFN) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that the US had made any proposals regarding the future of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest nuclear facility, which has been under Russian control since March 2022. Lavrov's comments came in response to media reports suggesting that the US was considering actions related to the plant.

In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Lavrov stated that the US had not approached Russia about the plant. He further explained that if such an offer were to be made, Russia would clarify that the plant is managed by the Russian state corporation Rosatom, which operates it under stringent monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Lavrov also noted that the plant is in safe hands and highlighted that the real threat to its safety comes from Ukrainian attacks aimed at creating a nuclear disaster, a risk he said was fully under control if not for such assaults.

When pressed further, Lavrov firmly rejected any possibility of changing the plant's status, asserting that the issue has not been raised during negotiations. This came after reports from Axios and the Wall Street Journal claimed that US officials had presented a proposal involving neutralizing the area around the plant during talks with Ukraine in Paris. Lavrov dismissed these reports, reiterating that such discussions had not occurred.

In March, former President Trump had claimed that Ukrainian President Zelensky had suggested the US take ownership of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, though Zelensky refuted this, stating that the topic was only about potential US investments in the Zaporozhye plant.

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