The Turkish and Ukrainian presidents and the UN secretary-general came together today in Lviv, Ukraine, with a challenging agenda that includes boosting grain exports from Ukraine and security concerns around Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant located in southern Ukraine. 

The three leaders — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — have expressed the need to take security measures around the nuclear plant, which has sparked fears of a looming nuclear disaster.  

“The world cannot  bear another Chernobyl disaster," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the presser following the 40-minute trilateral talks, while Guterres warned that damage to the plant would be suicide. Speaking to the press after the meeting, the UN chief said that military equipment and personnel should be withdrawn from the plant. 

“The facility must not be used as part of any military operation. Instead, an agreement is urgently needed to re-establish Zaporizhzhia’s purely civilian infrastructure and to ensure the safety of the area,” he said.