AFP: Turkey can mediate in a standoff over Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station which is occupied by Moscow’s troops, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
“President Erdogan stated that Turkey can play a facilitator role in the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, as they did in the grain deal,” the Turkish presidency said.
Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, was forced to halt almost all deliveries after Russia’s invasion in February, raising fears of a global food crisis.
Exports of grain across Black Sea ports resumed under the deal signed in July by Kyiv and Moscow with the United Nations and Turkey as guarantors.
Last month, Erdogan warned of the danger of a nuclear disaster when he visited Lviv for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We are worried. We do not want another Chernobyl,” the Turkish leader had said.
There has been growing alarm over the safety of Europe’s largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhia, which is under Russian control.
Ukraine on Friday said it bombed a Russian base in the nearby town of Energodar, destroying three artillery systems as well as an ammunition depot.