The Kremlin is using the Zaporizhzhia NPP as a tool to blackmail Ukraine, seeking to take away a key source of electricity

The talks among representatives of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia, held in the United Arab Emirates, focused mainly on economic issues. This information is reported by Politico, citing anonymous sources from the United States.

One of the main topics of discussion at the talks was control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Energodar, which is currently under Russian control. Moscow proposed sharing the electricity generated by this, the largest plant in Europe, but an agreement could not be reached.

According to the sources, the parties also considered opportunities for joint economic initiatives: for Ukraine, a recovery and socio-economic development plan; and for Russia, potential business relations with the United States. Despite the existing distrust, Washington hopes to lay the groundwork for building trust through concrete steps towards de-escalation.

It is worth noting that earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the Zaporizhzhia NPP as one of the most difficult topics during the discussion of plans for a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

On December 28, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, announced the start of repair work on the power transmission line at the NPP after another local ceasefire. The agency’s team continues to monitor these works, which are expected to last several days.

On the same day, the representative of the defense of southern Ukraine, Vladyslav Voloshyn, noted that the Ukrainian armed forces did not carry out attacks near the NPP during the declared local ceasefire. At the same time, the Russian occupiers used the territory of the station to attack Ukrainian positions.

In addition, former US President Donald Trump claimed that he discussed the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, emphasizing that the Kremlin “is actually cooperating with Ukraine to open the station.”