Russian and Ukrainian forces have traded fire around the largest nuclear plant in Europe. And they are trading accusations over who is to blame for shelling that has sparked fears of a global disaster. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has used a visit to Ukraine to call for both sides to pull out of the area.

Guterres sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday. They discussed how to secure the safety of the complex in the region of Zaporizhzhia.

Guterres said, "The area needs to be demilitarized. We must tell it as it is: Any potential damage to Zaporizhzhia is suicide."

Zelenskyy said, "It's unacceptable that Russia puts all of us on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe of a global scale. We agreed with the secretary-general on a possible mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the Zaporizhzhia plant."

However, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the idea of demilitarization as "unacceptable." He said it could make the plant even more vulnerable.

Source: NHK