“It is Russia’s absolute responsibility to ensure that it has control over its nuclear weapons and not be irresponsible either in their use or in their safeguarding,” said João Gomes Cravinho.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs considered this Friday that nuclear security in Russia is a The “absolute responsibility” of Moscowat a time when concern is growing over the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia plant in southern Ukraine.
“We should not speculate on nuclear instability. It is Russia’s absolute responsibility to ensure that it has control of its nuclear weapons and not be irresponsible either in their use or in their safeguarding,” João Gomes Cravinho told Lusa by phone from Vienna, where he met this Friday with the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, and with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg.
On Thursday, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksii Danilov, said that the Ukrainian authorities are preparing for “any scenario” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in the world, under the control of security forces. Moscow for months. , while conducting training exercises for a possible nuclear catastrophe.
The Zaporizhia region has been at the center of fighting since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year.
For the head of Portuguese diplomacy, Russia’s responsibility for its nuclear facilities “is a demand that must continue to be made“, while the Kremlin faces an internal crisis motivated by the riot last weekend led by the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The military columns of the leader of Wagner aborted, 200 kilometers from the province of Moscow, the mission to depose the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, and the Chief of the General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov, but not President Vladimir Putin.
Joao Gomes Cravinho did not want to speculate on events in Russia and the possibility of nuclear weapons getting out of Moscow’s control, but he left a warning.
“If Russia is unstable internally, that can only be blamed on President Putin and the faster we get out of this situation created by Russia, namely the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the easier it will be to achieve international stability and also the internal stability. from Russia, ”he considered.
The Foreign Minister stated that the invasion of Ukraine “endangers the entire international order, the European security order, the international legal order, etc., naturally also causes consequences that are difficult to foresee in the internal framework [russo]From the beginning”.
Portugal’s position in relation to this matter, he stressed, remains unchanged: “The objective is simply defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine. “It is not part of our support for Ukraine to advocate any kind of change of circumstances in Russia.”
Regarding the meeting with the IAEA leader, João Gomes Cravinho recalled that Rafael Grossi has already made eight trips to Ukraine since the start of the invasion and that the threats looming over the Zaporojia plant and the need for Russia and Ukraine to respect a set of principles so as not to endanger the nuclear power plant.
“At the moment [a central nuclear] it is in a state, let’s say, of hibernation, it is not producing electricity, but the motors are running to keep the plant in a state where it can after a while resume production”, despite being close to the front line current.
This circumstance constitutesa great dangerand the head of Portuguese diplomacy thanked the work that Grossi and his IAEA team have been doing as “a deterrent effect” that leads the belligerent parties to avoid any type of nuclear accident in Zaporojia, respecting the principles to which they have committed.
Cravinho also discussed with Grossi the cooperation that Portugal is developing with the IAEA on the medical use of nuclear technology, involving other countries such as Angola, a project that Portugal intends to reinforce.
In his conversations with his Austrian counterpart, the head of the Portuguese diplomacy began by pointing out the strengthening of the bilateral relationship, specifically with the establishment of periodic meetings at the level of general directors to seek the convergence of European and international positions and at the economic level, where he can there are “like interests” in the respective business sectors.
The minister gave as an example that Portugal has little presence in Central and Eastern Europein particular in the Balkan countries, where Vienna is very strong, and where Austria has little importance in Africa, which paves the way for “working on common business projects.”
The two ministers also addressed the relationship between the European Union (EU) and Latin America, and the upcoming summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, as well as the agreement with Mercosur.
“It was a very interesting topic, because Austria is a country that has been showing some reluctance in relation to this agreement and I was able, on the one hand, to try to sensitize my Austrian counterpart about the geopolitical importance of this agreement“Described the ruler, assuring that he had received Alexander Schallenberg’s response to agree with the geopolitical relevance of this agreement, despite internal limitations.
João Gomes Cravinho hopes that this exchange of views can create a good climate of trust on both sides and “help find a solution for this agreement, which is so important for the EU.”
Source: Observadora
