OREANDA-NEWS The IAEA did not try to interfere with the way the National Guard forces organized the protection of the Zaporozhye NPP and did not offer to take the rosgvardeytsev out of the station, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

""The proposal to remove Rosgvardiya units from the NPP actually comes from some representatives of the Ukrainian side and Western states supporting the regime in Kiev. The station is located on Russian territory. In accordance with our legislation, Rosgvardiya units protect all Russian nuclear facilities, including the NPP. Neither the IAEA secretariat nor the agency's member states have the right to interfere in the organization of nuclear power plant protection of any state," he said.

"The agency's mandate does not provide for this, and the secretariat clearly follows its authority in this matter. No such proposals have been received from him," the deputy minister explained, answering the question whether the IAEA really proposed to withdraw Rosgvardiya from the station as part of efforts to create a protective zone around the NPP.

He added that Moscow regularly contacts IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi through the permanent mission in Vienna.
"The CEO's arrival in Russia is quite possible when additional coordination of our interaction is required," Ryabkov concluded.