French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his support for a proposal by the International Atomic Energy Agency to deploy an agency mission to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia to examine the situation there, according to a readout of Macron’s call with his Ukrainian counterpart Tuesday.
Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the terms of such a mission, which would commence “as soon as possible” according to the proposal of the IAEA’s director general, according to the readout.
Macron “underlined his concern” to Zelensky regarding the threat posed by the presence and actions of Russian forces around the nuclear plant and called for their withdrawal.
Both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of attacks near the plant. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described recent artillery and rocket fire around it as “suicidal.”
The two presidents also discussed the cargo ship chartered by the UN to transport Ukrainian grains, which left Odesa earlier on Tuesday and is headed to Africa.
Following the export of 2.8 million tons of Ukrainian grains via road and river “solidarity routes” in July, the pace of such exports ”continues to accelerate,” according to the readout.
Zelensky also tweeted after the call, calling for more sanctions on Russia.