Vienna [Austria], March 2 (ANI): Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi conducted consultations in order to address an overnight request from Ukraine’s nuclear regulator to extend immediate assistance to ensure the safety of Chernobyl NPP and other nuclear facilities in the country. Rafael Mariano Grossi on Wednesday said that the work of the agency at this time of uncertainty in Ukraine is indispensable.
Taking to Twitter, Mariano Grossi said, “The IAEA’s unique mandate makes it the sole independent international technical organization providing regular updates on the safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities. At a time of great uncertainty, this aspect of the IAEA’s work is indispensable.” “The best action to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and its people would be for this armed conflict to end now,” he added.
Notably, IAEA is the center for cooperation in the nuclear field, promoting the safe, secure & peaceful use of nuclear technology.
US committed to providing support to Ukraine: Blinken to FM Kuleba
Washington [US], March 2 (ANI/Sputnik): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talked by telephone with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and reiterated the United States’ commitment to providing security, financial and other support to Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a readout of the conversation on Wednesday.
“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to reiterate the United States’ commitment to providing security, financial, and humanitarian support as Ukraine faces increasingly brutal bombardment by Russian forces, including missile strikes on apartment buildings, hospitals, and a Holocaust memorial site,” Price said. (ANI/Sputnik)
Moreover, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the emergency session of UNGA called Russia’s decision of putting the nuclear deterrence forces on “special alert” as a “chilling development.” (ANI)
‘Too early to say’ if Russia committing war crimes, says Biden
Washington [US], March 2 (ANI): US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that Russia is targeting civilians, but it’s “too early to say” if it is committing war crimes. He said that Russia is intentionally targeting civilians in Ukraine but declined to say whether he believed war crimes were being committed, reported CNN. “It’s clear they are” targeting civilians, Biden said. Asked if he believed Russia is committing war crimes, Biden said, “We are following it very closely. It’s too early to say that.”
Biden also reiterated that sanctioning Russian oil exports remained a possibility, though officials have cautioned that they will work to minimize the impact of such a move on the US and global oil prices, reported CNN. “Nothing is off the table,” Biden said when specifically pressed on banning Russian oil exports. US Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile on Wednesday said: “everything is on the table” as the US assesses economic sanctions imposed on Russia for launching a military operation on Ukraine and continued to stress the US will not send troops to fight Russian forces in Ukraine.
“What we are going to continue to do is stand firm with our allies in terms of reassessing what we are doing with sanctions. Everything is on the table for consideration, frankly,” Harris told NBC’s “TODAY Show.” However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s actions in Ukraine qualify as a war crime. “What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin‘s regime in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians … in my view, [it] already fully qualifies as a war crime,” he said at the UK parliament.
Separately, Biden also said it is up to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to decide whether he wants to remain in his country as it comes under siege by Russia. “I think it’s his judgment to make and we’re doing everything we can to help him,” Biden said as he departed the White House. Zelenskyy has said he is Russia’s top target during the fighting, and that his family is the second. The US has said previously it is providing a broad range of support for Zelenskyy, though hasn’t detailed what measures it’s taking to protect him, reported CNN. CNN has reported previously that the US has discussed contingency plans with Zelenskyy about leaving Ukraine or relocating to Lviv. (ANI)
