Zelenskyy urges Guterres to ensure demilitarized zone around nuclear plant

Lviv, Ukraine, Aug 18 (EFE).- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday asked United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres to guarantee a demilitarized zone around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

“This deliberate terror on the part of the aggressor can have global catastrophic consequences for the whole world,” Zelenskyy said during a meeting with Guterres in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

“Therefore, the UN must ensure the security of this strategic object, its demilitarization and complete liberation from Russian troops,” he stressed.

Zelenskyy met with Guterres and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he discussed the deal signed by Ukraine and Russia to resume grain exports from Black Sea ports, among other issues.

“We agreed to continue the coordination of the grain initiative implementation,” the Ukrainian leader said.

“We also discussed the possible directions of its development, the issue of illegal and forced deportation of Ukrainians, the release of our military personnel and medics from captivity,” he said.

Guterres arrived in Ukraine Wednesday evening and is expected on Friday to visit the Black Sea port of Odesa, where ships loaded with grain leave under the UN-brokered deal.EFE

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