IAEA chief meets Putin over nuclear safety

The United Nations' atomic watchdog chief has met Russian President Vladimir Putin after "tense" talks with energy officials over safety at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest.

It came as a senior Russian military officer warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into a full-scale war in Europe and the probability of Moscow's forces becoming involved in a new conflict is increasing "significantly".

Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Russian army's Military Academy of the General Staff, made the comments in an article for the defense ministry publication Military Thought, the state RIA news agency reported on Thursday.

"The possibility of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine — from the expansion of participants in 'proxy forces' used for military confrontation with Russia to a large-scale war in Europe — cannot be ruled out," RIA cited him as saying.

"The main source of military threats to our state is the anti-Russian policy of the United States and its allies, who are conducting a new type of hybrid warfare in order to weaken Russia in every possible way, limit its sovereignty and destroy its territorial integrity," he was quoted as saying.

The Kremlin published introductory remarks by Putin and Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, at the meeting in Sochi in southern Russia on Wednesday but gave no details of the closed-door meeting that followed.

Grossi announced the trip on Monday, the first day of a regular meeting of the agency's 35-nation board of governors in Vienna, Austria.

Putin told Grossi that he was prepared to discuss "particularly sensitive and important issues on the agenda … and do everything to ensure security anywhere we are in one or another involved in nuclear energy", the Kremlin said.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant's six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff members to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm about the nuclear plant amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe.

Grossi told Russia Today that he discussed with Putin the possibility of restarting the plant — and whether it will be necessary to do so.

'Professional, frank'

He said his conversation with Putin was "professional and frank "and that he was able to express his opinion, in particular concerning the situation at Zaporizhzhia. "The situation continues to be enormously fluid and precarious, as I have said several times."

In an earlier news conference, Grossi told reporters in Sochi on Wednesday that he had a "very intensive and exhaustive working session" with Russian officials, including those from Russia's state nuclear energy agency Rosatom and the foreign and defense ministries.

The talks were held less than a month before the presidential election of Russia.

On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any attempt from abroad to interfere in Russia's election later this month would be prevented.

He also stressed Russia will not meddle in the November US presidential election, and dismissed claims that Moscow had orchestrated campaigns to sway both the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.

"We never interfered in elections in the United States," Peskov said in a lecture to students on stereotypes about Russia, occasionally slipping into English.

"And this time, we do not intend to interfere. … We do not dictate to anyone how to live — but we don't want others to dictate to us," he said.

Agencies contributed to this story.