Ukraine Says Russia Considering Nuclear Plant ‘Terror’ Attack, Moscow Denies It

A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)
A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Ukraine Says Russia Considering Nuclear Plant ‘Terror’ Attack, Moscow Denies It

A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)
A Russian service member stands guard at a checkpoint near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, June 15, 2023. (Reuters)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday Ukrainian spies had received information showing Russia was considering carrying out a "terrorist" attack at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant involving a release of radiation. 

The Kremlin dismissed the allegation as "another lie" and said a team of UN nuclear inspectors had visited the plant and rated everything highly. 

In a video statement on the Telegram messenger, Zelenskiy said Kyiv was sharing the information about the Russian-occupied facility in southern Ukraine with all its international partners from Europe and the United States to China and India. 

"Intelligence has received information that Russia is considering the scenario of a terrorist act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - a terrorist act with the release of radiation," he said. "They have prepared everything for this." 

Zelenskiy did not say what evidence the intelligence agencies based their assertion on. 

The six-reactor complex, Europe's biggest nuclear plant, has been under occupation since shortly after Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine in February last year. 

The two sides have accused each other of shelling the vast complex, and international efforts to establish a demilitarized zone around it have failed so far. 

"Unfortunately, I have had to remind (people) more than once that radiation knows no state borders. And who it will hit is determined only by the direction of the wind..." Zelenskiy said. 

Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, suffered the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986, when clouds of radioactive material spread across much of Europe after an explosion and fire at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. 

Zelenskiy made his statement two days after Ukraine's military intelligence chief accused Russia of "mining" the cooling pond that is used to keep the reactors cool at the Zaporizhzhia plant. 

Russian forces have occupied swathes of Ukraine's south and east, and Moscow has unilaterally declared them a part of Russia. Moscow plans to conduct elections on the occupied territory there this September. 



Putin Says Europe Is Needed in Ukraine Talks, but Suggests Deal Still Distant 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russian TV journalist Pavel Zarubin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on February 24, 2025. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russian TV journalist Pavel Zarubin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on February 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Putin Says Europe Is Needed in Ukraine Talks, but Suggests Deal Still Distant 

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russian TV journalist Pavel Zarubin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on February 24, 2025. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with Russian TV journalist Pavel Zarubin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on February 24, 2025. (AFP)

Europe's participation in Ukraine peace talks will be needed eventually, but Moscow first wants to build trust with Washington, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, while suggesting that a deal to end the conflict may still be far off.

As Ukraine marked the third anniversary on Monday of Russia's invasion that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions, US President Donald Trump suggested the war could end within weeks. But he did not elaborate.

Putin told Russian state television that Trump was approaching the Russia-Ukraine conflict rationally and not emotionally, but gave the impression it might not end as soon as Trump would like.

Both his telephone conversation with Trump and recent talks between the United States and Russia in Riyadh touched on the issue of resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, Putin added.

"But it was not discussed in detail," he said in an interview. "We only agreed that we would move toward this. And in this case, of course, we are not refusing the participation of European countries."

Ukraine and Kyiv's European allies both objected to not having been invited to the initial round of talks on Ukraine, held last week in Saudi Arabia by the United States and Russia.

Putin said Europe had "nothing with" the talks in Riyadh, as they were focused on establishing trust between Moscow and Washington, which he said was key.

"In order to resolve complex and rather acute issues, such as related to Ukraine, both Russia and the United States must take the first step," Putin said.

"What does it consist of? This first step should be devoted to increasing the level of trust between the two states," he added.

"But what do the Europeans have to do with it?"

The next few rounds of talks and high-level contacts will be devoted to building that trust, he said, but once the talks turn to reaching a settlement to the conflict, the presence of European partners will be logical.

"Their participation in the negotiating process is needed. We never rejected that, we held constant discussions with them."

Michael Froman, president of the US Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, said it would be a mistake for a ceasefire deal to come at the cost of the transatlantic alliance.

"To secure peace through strength, it would be in Trump's interest to work in tandem with our European partners, who will bear the burden of Ukraine's financial and economic survival," he wrote in a note last week.

HALVING DEFENSE BUDGETS

Putin also said he approved a suggestion that Russia and the United States could discuss deep cuts, of as much as half, in military spending.

"We could come to an agreement with the United States. We're not against that," Putin said.

"The idea seems like a good one to me. The United States reduces theirs by 50% and we reduce ours by 50%. And China could join us later if it wishes."

Putin dismissed any notion that Trump's sharp alteration of Washington's policy on Ukraine, including criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and suggestions that Kyiv might not recover all lost territory, was based on emotion.

Trump, he said, was acting logically and free of the constraints of promises to Ukraine made by European leaders.

"Unlike them, the new president of the United States has his hands free from shackles that don't allow you to move forward," he said.

"He is moving in a straightforward manner and without particular constraints. He is in a unique position: he doesn't just say what he thinks, he says what he wants. This is the privilege of the leader of one of the major powers."