US Joins Russia and China in Voting Against IAEA Resolution on Attacks Targeting Ukraine’s Power Grid

The United States voted against an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board resolution on attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, according to Reuters on March 5.

The vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors in Vienna put the US alongside Russia, China, and Niger. This marked the first time the United States voted against such a resolution.

The resolution text stated it “reemphasizes that attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for the off-site power supply of nuclear power plants, including at the ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant), represent a direct threat to nuclear safety and security”.

In a statement delivered before the vote, the US wrote: “While we continue supporting the IAEA’s work in-country, we do not support the Board’s current consideration of an unnecessary resolution that does not help achieve peace between Ukraine and Russia.”

Adopted by the IAEA member Board of Governors, the measure was the seventh resolution on Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion four years ago.

The vote followed a US abstention at the UN General Assembly in February, when a separate resolution supporting Ukraine passed 107-12 with 51 abstentions.

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At the same time, Ukraine marked four years since Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, calling the occupation an unprecedented militarization of a civilian nuclear facility and a breach of nuclear safety norms. 

It warned that the plant has repeatedly lost external power during the occupation, heightening risks to safety systems, and said any Russian attempt to restart units would be illegal and dangerous. 

Kyiv also accused occupation authorities of detaining and pressuring plant staff and obstructing IAEA experts’ access, and demanded de-occupation, demilitarization, full Ukrainian control, and the release of detainees. 

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