No conditions indicating possible nuclear weapon - IAEA Director General

"I do not believe that we are seeng the necessary conditions that might indicate the possible use of nuclear weapons, if we are talking about the war in Ukraine," he said during a press conference in Tokyo.

Grossi met with Putin in Sochi last week.

They discussed "issues of nuclear safety at the [Russian-occupied] Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and other global challenges in the non-proliferation sphere," Grossi said.

The meeting lasted 50 minutes, with most of it being closed-door, Russian media claimed.

Grossi made his fourth visit to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant on Feb. 7, which is currently under Russian occupation. The day before, Grossi met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the current security situation at the nuclear plant.

Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russian forces seized it in March 2022. Employees were subjected to interrogation and torture, and there have been casualties. Since then, Russia has mined the area around the plant and does not allow IAEA experts access to the reactor halls.

Putin earlier claimed that Russia is "militarily ready for a nuclear war," but it is unlikely that "everything is so straightforward." He also believes that the United States "actively develops nuclear forces and enhances their capabilities," while saying that he hopes that the United States "is unlikely to be ready to start a nuclear war tomorrow."