The UN nuclear watchdog's head said Monday he hoped Moscow and Kyiv would agree within hours to his offer to discuss nuclear safety after Russia seized Europe's largest power plant in Ukraine.

The battle had caused "unprecedented danger of a nuclear accident" and should not be repeated under any circumstances, said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi.

Grossi offered on Friday to travel to Chernobyl to negotiate with both sides to ensure the security of Ukraine's nuclear sites.

He was speaking hours after Russian forces had seized control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following the battle with Ukrainian troops that caused a fire and fears of an accident.

Already on February 24, Russian troops invading Ukraine had taken control of the Chernobyl plant which, following the worst nuclear accident in history in 1986, is now encased in a giant sarcophagus.

"We should not be losing time," Grossi told reporters after opening the regular board meeting of his Vienna-based organisation.

"We need to have an agreed clear framework of what is supposed to be done. So I hope that my consultations in the next few hours are going to be successful."

Grossi said Russia had informed him they preferred to meet somewhere other than Chernobyl.

"This is going to be part of a process of consultation," he said.

"There is safe operation but there are many, many questions on the ability to sustain this for much longer if we don't support this in some way."

Earlier Monday, Grossi said in his opening statement to the quarterly board meeting that a projectile hitting a building at Zaporizhzhia and causing a fire last week had been "a close call".

He told IAEA members: "The military operations at nuclear power facilities of Ukraine have caused unprecedented danger of a nuclear accident... Such a situation must not, under any circumstances, be repeated."

Expressing "deep concern", the IAEA said on Sunday that Ukraine had informed it that communication with the Zaporizhzhia plant had been disrupted and that its management was now under orders from the commander of the Russian forces.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured French President Emmanuel Macron of the "physical and nuclear safety" of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, according to the Kremlin.

Ukraine has four active nuclear power plants, providing about half the country's electricity, as well as stores of nuclear waste such as the one at Chernobyl.

France to send Ukraine drugs including iodine tablets
Paris (AFP) March 6, 2022 - France is to send medical aid to Ukraine including iodine tablets, which help protect against the effects of exposure to radiation, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday.

"Yes, we have sent different medical products," Le Drian told France 2 television in response to a question on the sending of the tablets.

Earlier Sunday, France's ambassador in Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, told BMFTV that 2.5 million doses were to be sent to Ukraine in the coming days.

Le Drian said French President Emmanuel Macron had contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin early Sunday to raise the issue of nuclear safety.

Macron had expressed his "serious concern" for the safety of Romania nuclear sites after Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant on Friday.

Putin had said he was ready to respect IAEA norms for the protection of power stations and agreed to open talks with the agency, the French presidency told the media.

Macron's view -- and that of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- was that Russia had to accept Ukrainian sovereignty over its own power stations for the safety not just of Ukraine but the whole of Europe, said Le Drian.

The IAEA governors hold their quarterly meeting on Monday in Vienna and the agency's director general, Rafael Grossi is due to speak to the press early in the afternoon.

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Ukraine: a nuclear-powered nation under fire
Paris (AFP) March 4, 2022
The Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine - the largest in Europe - has sparked international outrage and fears over the country's 15 operational reactors. The Zaporizhzhia reactors, apparently undamaged by the attack, were taken over by invading Russian forces that have also stationed themselves at Chernobyl, the site of the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history. Experts have condemned the attack, while stressing that Ukraine's modern reactors are built to withs ... read more