MOSCOW: Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was a Russian facility and transferring control of it to Ukraine or any other country was impossible.
The ministry also said that jointly operating the plant was not admissible as it would be impossible to properly ensure the physical and nuclear safety of the station.
It said Zaporizhzhia region, partly controlled by Russian forces, was one of four in Ukraine that had been annexed by Russia by virtue of referendums staged seven months after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor and a presidential decree had formally made the station Russian property.
Western nations have dismissed the referendums as shams.
“The return of the station to Russia’s nuclear sector has been a fait accompli for quite some time,” the ministry statement said. “Transferring the Zaporizhzhia plant to the control of Ukraine or another country is impossible.”
Russian forces seized the station early in the invasion and each side has since routinely accused the other of staging attacks that endanger safety at the plant, Europe’s largest with six reactors.
Although the plant now produces no electricity, the UN’s nuclear watchdog has monitors stationed there, as it does at all Ukrainian nuclear power sites.
Ukraine demands the return of the station to its jurisdiction and rejects the 2022 annexation of its territory as illegal.
US President Donald Trump, during a phone conversation this month with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the United States could help run and possibly own Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
Zelensky said the plants belong to the Ukrainian people. He said he and Trump had discussed potential US investment in the plant.
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Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to stay in Russian control, Moscow says
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Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to stay in Russian control, Moscow says
- The ministry also said that jointly operating the plant was not admissible as it would be impossible
- “The return of the station to Russia’s nuclear sector has been a fait accompli for quite some time”
Portugal fears disruption in first general strike in 12 years
LISBON: Portugal braced on Thursday for its first general strike in 12 years, as unions urge action against the right-wing minority government’s planned workers’ rights reforms.
Widespread disruption is expected for public transport, schools, courts and hospitals, as workers protest against a draft law aiming to simplify firing procedures, extend the length of fixed-term contracts and expand the minimum services required during a strike.
The walk-out is expected to be Portugal’s largest since June 2013, when the country was forced to gut public spending in exchange for international aid after being engulfed by a debt crisis that affected several European nations.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro insisted that the labor reforms, with more than 100 measures, were intended to “stimulate economic growth and pay better salaries.”
But the communist-leaning CGTP and more moderate UGT unions have lambasted the plans.
The CGTP is organizing about 20 demonstrations across the country. Its secretary general Tiago Oliveira called the reforms “among the biggest attacks on the world of work.” He told AFP the government action would “normalize job insecurity,” “deregulate working hours” and “make dismissals easier.”
Out of a working population of some five million people, around 1.3 million are already in insecure positions, Oliveira said.
- ‘Already a success’ -
Private sector unions are set to join the action.
The TAP Air Portugal national airline expects just a third of its 250 usual flights to get off the ground, while the national railway company has warned the disruption could spill over into Friday.
With Portugal set to elect a new president in early 2026, Oliveira said he considered the strike was “already a success” as it had drawn public attention to the government labor reforms.
“Without a doubt, we’ll have a great general strike,” the union leader added.
Public opinion is largely behind the action, with 61 percent of those polled in favor of the walk-out, according to a survey published in the Portuguese press.
On the eve of the strike, Montenegro said he hoped “that the country will function as normally as possible... because the rights of some must not infringe on the rights of others.”
Although his right-wing party lacks a majority in parliament, Montenegro’s government should be able to force the bill through with the support of the liberals — and the far right, which has become the second-largest political force in Portugal.
The left-wing opposition has accused Montenegro’s camp of not telling voters that workers’ rights roll-backs were on the cards while campaigning for the last parliamentary elections.
Although Portugal has recorded economic growth of around two percent and a historically low unemployment rate of some six percent, the prime minister has argued that the country should take advantage of the favorable climate to push through reforms.
Widespread disruption is expected for public transport, schools, courts and hospitals, as workers protest against a draft law aiming to simplify firing procedures, extend the length of fixed-term contracts and expand the minimum services required during a strike.
The walk-out is expected to be Portugal’s largest since June 2013, when the country was forced to gut public spending in exchange for international aid after being engulfed by a debt crisis that affected several European nations.
Prime Minister Luis Montenegro insisted that the labor reforms, with more than 100 measures, were intended to “stimulate economic growth and pay better salaries.”
But the communist-leaning CGTP and more moderate UGT unions have lambasted the plans.
The CGTP is organizing about 20 demonstrations across the country. Its secretary general Tiago Oliveira called the reforms “among the biggest attacks on the world of work.” He told AFP the government action would “normalize job insecurity,” “deregulate working hours” and “make dismissals easier.”
Out of a working population of some five million people, around 1.3 million are already in insecure positions, Oliveira said.
- ‘Already a success’ -
Private sector unions are set to join the action.
The TAP Air Portugal national airline expects just a third of its 250 usual flights to get off the ground, while the national railway company has warned the disruption could spill over into Friday.
With Portugal set to elect a new president in early 2026, Oliveira said he considered the strike was “already a success” as it had drawn public attention to the government labor reforms.
“Without a doubt, we’ll have a great general strike,” the union leader added.
Public opinion is largely behind the action, with 61 percent of those polled in favor of the walk-out, according to a survey published in the Portuguese press.
On the eve of the strike, Montenegro said he hoped “that the country will function as normally as possible... because the rights of some must not infringe on the rights of others.”
Although his right-wing party lacks a majority in parliament, Montenegro’s government should be able to force the bill through with the support of the liberals — and the far right, which has become the second-largest political force in Portugal.
The left-wing opposition has accused Montenegro’s camp of not telling voters that workers’ rights roll-backs were on the cards while campaigning for the last parliamentary elections.
Although Portugal has recorded economic growth of around two percent and a historically low unemployment rate of some six percent, the prime minister has argued that the country should take advantage of the favorable climate to push through reforms.
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