Russia issues fresh nuclear plant warning

MOSCOW: Russia has issued a fresh warning that a disaster is still possible at the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in Ukraine.

While Russia, which has resumed shelling the eastern city of Kharkiv this week, alleges the Ukrainian side are continuing to endanger Europe's largest nuclear plant in the south of the country, reports dpa news agency.

Both sides have blamed each other for the shelling at Zaporizhzhya.

The Ukrainian military is threatening the nuclear plant with weapons supplied by the US, Nikolai Patrushev, the secretary of the Russian National Security Council, said in the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

"If there is a disaster, the consequences will be felt in all corners of the world. Washington, London and their stooges will bear the responsibility," he told a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to Interfax.

In a telephone conversation later on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, agreed that representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should assess the situation on the ground, the Kremlin said, adding that Moscow would offer the "necessary assistance".

Russia has rejected international calls to withdraw its troops from the site, while there has been disagreement about the route the experts would take.