03:04
Ukraine says Russia has taken control of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant
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https://scmp.com/news/china/article/3169343/g7-eu-and-us-condemn-russia-incredibly-reckless-attack-ukrainian-nuclear China
G7, EU and US condemn Russia for ‘incredibly reckless’ attack on Ukrainian nuclear plant
- ‘Any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of international law’
- Alarm that Ukraine had come perilously close to experiencing a second nuclear catastrophe after the Chernobyl disaster
Surveillance camera footage shows a flare landing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during shelling in southeastern Ukraine on Friday. Photo: Zaporizhzhya NPP via YouTube/via Reuters
Group of Seven countries and the European Union reacted with alarm on Friday to Russia’s assault on a nuclear power plant in Ukraine, as the US administration demurred on whether it considered the shelling a war crime.
“We urge Russia to stop its attacks especially in the direct vicinity of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants,” said the foreign ministers of the G7, the bloc comprising the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and Japan.
“Any armed attack on and threat against nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of international law,” the ministers, joined by an EU representative, added.
Russian troops took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine after shelling the complex early Friday morning, an attack that started a fire in one building.
The assault is not believed to have caused any radiation leaks, but world leaders reacted with condemnation and concern that Ukraine had come perilously close to experiencing a second nuclear catastrophe after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
An explosion at Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, would have been “the end for everyone”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a nighttime address. “The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.”
The “incredibly reckless and dangerous” attack had “threatened the safety of civilians across Russia, Ukraine and Europe,” Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at a UN Security Council meeting.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Asked on Friday if the attack constituted a war crime, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was in the process of a legal review.
But “regardless of legality, this action was the height of irresponsibility”, Psaki said. “The Kremlin must cease operations around nuclear infrastructure.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has stopped short of explicitly accusing Moscow of war crimes. After the official Twitter account of the US embassy in Kyiv posted that it was “a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant”, the State Department urged other embassies not to share the tweet, NBC reported.
But in their statement, the G7 ministers pledged to “hold accountable those responsible for war crimes, including indiscriminate use of weapons against civilians”, and welcomed efforts to collect potential evidence of such actions, including a war crimes investigation by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The G7’s statement was the latest sign of a largely unified global response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which has been met with a blitz of economic sanctions targeting Russian banks, as well as President Vladimir Putin and his close allies.
“We will continue to impose further severe sanctions in response to Russian aggression, enabled by the Lukashenko regime in Belarus,” the foreign ministers said.
Also on Friday, the UN Human Rights Council voted overwhelmingly to set up a special commission to investigate rights violations in Ukraine and make recommendations on accountability measures.
Absent from the global outcry over Putin’s invasion is Beijing, which has called in general terms for an end to fighting in Ukraine but not criticised Moscow explicitly.
The UN Security Council listens to a report by Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head the International Atomic Energy Agency, on screen, during a meeting called by Britain after Russia’s overnight attack overnight on a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. Photo: EPA-EFE
Remarks by Beijing’s UN envoy expressing concern about Friday’s attack did not apportion any blame for the assault. “China attaches great importance to nuclear safety and security and hopes that the parties concerned will act with great caution,” Zhang Jun told the UN Security Council.
Despite abstaining from a General Assembly vote to condemn the invasion, China joined ranks with Russia on Friday to oppose a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors calling on Moscow to stop targeting nuclear plants, according to Reuters.
The G7 ministers said they supported a plan announced on Friday by the head of the IAEA – the UN’s nuclear watchdog – to travel to Chernobyl to broker an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to ensure the ongoing safety of nuclear facilities in the country.