Speaking at the IAEA General Conference, Mikhail Ulyanov said Russia had warned that if IAEA member states and the agency’s leadership do not find the resolve to condemn attacks on nuclear facilities “anywhere, at any time,” such attacks would become a new norm. “It appears this is exactly what is happening,” he said.
According to Russia’s Novosti news agency, Ulyanov added that Moscow wants the agency to respond to attacks on nuclear facilities, particularly those under IAEA safeguards.
Separately, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s European Cooperation Department, told a press briefing that Western countries’ “playing” with nuclear weapons is a particular concern and portends a troubling outlook.