NATO chief Stoltenberg has made it clear that arms deliveries to Ukraine will be necessary for a long time to come. According to the IAEA, the situation at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia is “precarious”. All developments in the live blog.
5:48 a.m
IAEA: Situation at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia “precarious”
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is occupied by Russia, is “precarious”. Above all, the external power supply to the power plant is causing problems, explained IAEA director Rafael Grossi. “I again call on all sides to ensure nuclear safety and the protection of the power plant.”
Russia seized the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine shortly after the war began and has occupied it ever since. For months Moscow and Kiev have accused each other of being responsible for attacks around and on the nuclear power plant. These have already ensured that the power plant is disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid several times – then emergency generators have to step in. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is not far from the front in the Zaporizhia region, which Russia has declared annexed.
5:48 a.m
Stoltenberg: Weapons deliveries to Ukraine will still be necessary for a long time
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has vowed to the West that it will have to continue arming Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion for a long time to come. Russian President Vladimir Putin has no immediate plans for peace in Ukraine, he told the British newspaper Guardian.
“President Putin is not planning for peace, he is planning for more war.” The West must therefore be prepared to continue supplying Kiev with weapons for a long time to come. Russia is increasing military industrial production for its “war of attrition” and is reaching out to “authoritarian regimes like Iran or North Korea” to get more weapons, Stoltenberg said.
The fierce fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine showed that Russia was prepared to “deploy thousands and thousands of soldiers and accept many casualties for minimal gains”. As a result, the US, UK, France, Germany and other western states would have to be prepared to provide Ukraine with arms, ammunition and spare parts for a long period of time. “The need will continue because this is a war of attrition; it’s about the industrial capacity to sustain support.”