Putin wants joint management of Zaporizhzhia NPP with the US for cryptocurrency mining
26 December 11:17
During the negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, Russia and the United States are discussing joint management of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant (ZNPP) without Kyiv’s participation.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting with representatives of big business on December 24, "Komersant Ukrainian" writes, citing Russian propaganda media.
According to the media, Putin said that the American side is interested in organizing mining at ZNPP, but also insists on organizing electricity supplies to Ukraine.
ZNPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, which produced about 20% of Ukraine’s electricity before the war. It is located near Enerhodar on the left bank of the Dnipro River. The Russian military occupied the plant at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in March 2022. In September of that year, all power units were put into cold shutdown. Putin transferred the facility to the management of Rosenergoatom, a part of the Rosatom state corporation. At the same time, he emphasized that Ukrainian specialists continued to work at the station, but were issued Russian passports.
The United States presented a peace plan for Ukraine in mid-November. Initially, it consisted of 28 points. During Washington’s consultations with Kyiv, the document was reduced to 20 points, which were officially presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to him, a compromise was not found only on the issue of territories and ownership of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. In particular, Zelenskyy noted, the United States proposed trilateral management of the plant, in which the American side would play a key role. Kyiv, in turn, wants to exclude Russia and manage the facility together with the United States on a parity basis. At the same time, the peace plan stipulates that the front line in Zaporizhzhia region will be frozen. Thus, if the peace is signed, ZNPP will remain under the control of the Russian army.
Earlier, the IAEA stated that almost all the basic principles of nuclear safety have been violated at ZNPP, and the six shutdown reactors cannot be safely restarted in the current conditions.
