Macron And Putin Hold Call Amid Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Concerns

French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin have held a call amid increasing concerns of a nuclear crisis at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

• According to Russian news service Tass, "Putin and Macron stressed the need to send an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team to the power plant."
• The Kremlin, per Tass: "Putin says Ukraine's shelling at Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine is creating the risk of large scale catastrophe."
• Both Russia and Ukraine have accused the other of planning a "false flag" operation at the nuclear power station.
• Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the UN to ensure the "complete liberation" and "demilitarisation" of Zaporizhzhia from Russian troops.
• Zelensky said: "This deliberate terror on the part of the aggressor can have global catastrophic consequences for the whole world."
• UN Sec-Gen Antonio Guterres said ahead of a trilateral meeting with Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Erdogan that the United Nations is, "gravely concerned," with the situation at Zaporizhzhia and called for efforts to ensure the facility is not the site of military operations.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry said Ukraine's provocation in Zaporizhzhia is "nuclear blackmail."