According to AFP, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Raphael Grossi warned on Wednesday that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine “continues to deteriorate” as the Ukrainians accused Russia of bombing it again.

“The situation continues to deteriorate and we cannot afford the luxury of waiting for something catastrophic to happen,” Grossi said after a meeting on the situation at France’s UN mission opened by President Emmanuel Macron.

The head of the IAEA said that he spoke with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov, whom he met on Wednesday morning on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“As long as the bombing continues, the risks are enormous,” he added.

Grossi also met with the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba, which he stated at a press conference shortly after, also expressing the hope “that we will be able to visit Kyiv soon, and later Russia.”

An agreement on the creation of a security zone around the plant has not been reached, he agreed, but clarified that “real negotiations about the parameters” of this zone have only “begun”.

Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday accused Russia of repeatedly bombing the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, while claiming that the level of radiation at the facility did not exceed the norm.

“Even in the worst conditions, diplomacy should never stop (…) It is our responsibility to do this with pragmatic and realistic proposals, and that is what we are trying to do,” commented Rafael Grossi.

Together with him, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, stated that the goal is “the demilitarization of the plant within the sovereignty of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power plant operator Energoatom called for “stronger action” against Moscow on Wednesday, reporting more explosions.

The Zaporizhzhia power plant, occupied by Russian troops since the first weeks of the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, has been repeatedly bombed in recent months. Kyiv and Moscow blame each other for this and accuse each other of nuclear blackmail.