IAEA Chief to Visit Russian Exclave for Zaporizhzhia Talks

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi together with his senior staff and the IAEA expert mission team tours the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. (IAEA/Handout via Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi together with his senior staff and the IAEA expert mission team tours the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. (IAEA/Handout via Reuters)
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IAEA Chief to Visit Russian Exclave for Zaporizhzhia Talks

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi together with his senior staff and the IAEA expert mission team tours the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. (IAEA/Handout via Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi together with his senior staff and the IAEA expert mission team tours the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict outside Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, March 29, 2023. (IAEA/Handout via Reuters)

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on Wednesday to discuss the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, located near the front line of fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, an IAEA spokesperson said.

Grossi visited the plant, in Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia, last week. He said the situation had grown worse and military activity around the site - Europe's largest nuclear facility - had intensified in recent months.

Grossi and several national leaders have repeatedly warned that attacks on the plant - for which Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other - could trigger a Chornobyl-like disaster.

Kyiv has accused Russia of using the facility as a weapons depot, something Moscow denies.

Russian news agencies had earlier reported Grossi would visit Moscow to discuss Zaporizhzhia, citing a senior diplomat.

Russian forces have controlled the plant since the first weeks of the war. Last October, President Vladimir Putin ordered his government to transfer the plant, its assets and its staff to a new Russian entity, a move decried as expropriation by Kyiv.

Grossi has succeeded in having IAEA monitors stationed at the plant, but has so far been unable to secure the establishment of a demilitarized zone around it.



Zelenskiy Says Trump Assured Him of Support for Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looks on as he meets with democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris (not pictured), in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looks on as he meets with democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris (not pictured), in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Zelenskiy Says Trump Assured Him of Support for Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looks on as he meets with democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris (not pictured), in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy looks on as he meets with democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris (not pictured), in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in an interview with Fox News aired on Saturday, said he received "very direct information" from Donald Trump that the former US president would support Ukraine in the war against Russia if he is reelected in the November presidential election.

Zelenskiy, who was in the United States for the UN General Assembly, presented his war "victory plan" to Trump during a closed-door meeting on Friday, after the Republican presidential candidate said he would work with both Ukraine and Russia to end their conflict.

Speaking to Fox News after that meeting, Zelenskiy said: "I don't know what will be after elections and who will be the president ... But I've got from Donald Trump very direct information that he will be on our side, that he will support Ukraine."

He has used his US visit to promote his "victory plan," which a US official described as a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles. The plan presupposes the ultimate defeat of Russia in the war, the official said. Some officials see the aim as unrealistic.

Zelenskiy, who also met with US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden, said he was seeking united US support in its continuing war with Russia and was not backing either side in US elections.

"I don't want to be involved to the election period ... I don't want to lose one or another part of Americans," Zelenskiy told Fox News.

On Friday, Trump said he was pleased to meet with Zelenskiy, a marked change in tone from some of his previous comments on the campaign trail.

Trump and Harris' differences on Ukraine echo splits in their respective Democratic and Republican parties, and their view of the US role in the world.

Trump and some Republicans in Congress have questioned the value of US funding and additional weapons for Ukraine's two-year battle against Russia, calling it futile, while Democrats led by Biden have pushed to punish Russia and bolster Ukraine, framing Ukraine's victory as a vital national security interest.