Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio and his G7 counterparts have issued a statement deploring Russia's "unjustifiable" war in Ukraine and calling on Moscow to withdraw its forces, including hundreds currently occupying the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant amid reports of recent attacks on the site.
"The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, reiterate our strongest condemnation of the ongoing unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine," said a G7 statement.
"The Russian Federation must immediately withdraw its troops from within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and respect Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty," the statement went on.
At the weekend, Ukraine accused Russian forces of attacking the Soviet-era Zaporizhzhya site in the southeast, which they have occupied since March, claiming two workers were taken to hospital with shrapnel injuries and that three radiation sensors had been damaged.
Russia denied the accusations, and blamed the Ukrainian forces for the attacks.
"We demand that Russia immediately hand back full control to its rightful sovereign owner, Ukraine, of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power Plant as well as of all nuclear facilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders to ensure their safe and secure operations."
"Ukrainian staff operating the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant must be able to carry out their duties without threats or pressure," the statement added.
Russia’s continued control of the plant that endangers the region, the statement underlined, warning of the possibility of a nuclear disaster.
"We remain profoundly concerned by the serious threat that the seizure of Ukrainian nuclear facilities and other actions by Russian armed forces pose to the safety and security of these facilities, significantly raising the risk of a nuclear accident or incident and endangering the population of Ukraine, neighbouring states and the international community."
The G7 foreign ministers demanded unhindered access to Zaporizhzhya and all nuclear facilities in Ukraine by experts monitors from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "to address nuclear safety, security and safeguard concerns, in a manner that respects full Ukrainian sovereignty over its territory and infrastructure".
IAEA monitors must be able to safely "engage directly, and without interference, with the Ukrainian personnel responsible for the operation of these facilities," said the statement.
"The safety of all individuals implementing these efforts must be addressed to strengthen nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine. We encourage all countries to support the IAEA’s efforts."
