The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi plans to present to the UN Security Council an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to protect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant this month, indicating that a deal is close, four diplomats told Reuters.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Grossi has spent months trying to reach an agreement to reduce the risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident from military activities, such as the bombing of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which is located in Ukraine. and has been occupied by Russia for more than a year.

As Ukraine prepares a counteroffensive in the area, there is a risk of increased hostilities near the NPP and its six reactors. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the explosions, which have repeatedly knocked out power lines vital to cooling reactors and preventing a nuclear disaster.

“It looks promising,” one diplomat said of the deal. Others said Ukraine, which had long opposed the plan, now supported it, while Russia’s position was less clear.

“The plan (to present it to the Security Council) is this month, but the exact date has not yet been determined,” the diplomat said.

Diplomats said that Grossi will outline the so-called “principles” of protecting the plant, which Russia and Ukraine must support at that time. Some of them have been known for a long time, for example, neither extract nor wind.