U.N. chief calls for demilitarizing area around Ukraine nuclear plant


United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called for demilitarizing the area around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia seized early in its invasion of Ukraine, amid warnings of an imminent attack, reports USA Today.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling dangerously close to the plant, stoking concerns of a potential nuclear disaster. "The area needs to be demilitarized, and we must tell it as it is: Any potential damage in Zaporizhzhia is suicide," Guterres said, per NBC News.
The U.N. chief met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the nuclear plant and possible steps toward peace, but reached no breakthrough. Erdogan is trying to mediate the conflict, and plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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