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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US-Russia-Ukraine March 4
HEADLINE: NATO Rejects No-Fly Zone for Ukraine After Russian Attack on Nuclear Plant
TEASER: The allies say establishing such a zone could trigger a full-scale war in Europe
PUBLISHED AT: 3 /4 2022 at 8:46 p.m.
BYLINE: Cindy Saine
CONTRIBUTOR: Tatiana Vorozhko
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Jepsen, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Tatiana Vorozhko Skype Video Interviews AFP, AP. Reuters
MRT Blinken, AFP, AP. Reuters,
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:00
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE:
EDITOR NOTES: when showing the strikes on the nuclear power plant-Must on-screen courtesy "Zaporizhzhya NPP via YouTube))
((INTRO: ))
[[ U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels just hours after Russia's shelling of Europe's largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.]]
((NARRATOR))
((courtesy "Zaporizhzhya NPP via YouTube))
The world watched early Friday as closed-circuit cameras captured Russia shelling Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
((end courtesy))
Russian military forces have seized control of the plant. When asked if the shelling constitutes a war crime, the White House says it is still evaluating what happened.
((Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary))
"I mean, obviously the Russian government's actions were extremely reckless and
dangerous, and they could have posed a profound threat to the safety of civilians in
the region and beyond. We do applaud the ability of Ukrainian operators to keep all six reactors in safe conditions while under attack and to report, as they were able to, to the nuclear regulator."
((Video: recent B-roll of Putin))
((NARRATOR))
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to shell a nuclear power plant is extremely reckless and worrisome, a nuclear expert told VOA, even though there is no radiation emergency now.
((Mariana Budjeryn, Harvard Kennedy School))
((Mandatory Skype logo))
“This is unprecedented. Right, there hasn’t been an attack, in the middle of a war, on a civilian nuclear facility like a nuclear reactor. So, we will learn a lot, and we have to be extremely vigilant.”
((NARRATOR))
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Putin has crossed a new threshold.
((Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President))((in Ukrainian with English voiceover))
"We survived a night that could have stopped the story, the history of Ukraine, the history of Europe. Russian troops attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The largest in Europe. She alone could be like six Chernobyls. Russian tanks knew what they were firing at. Directly aiming at the station. This is terror of an unprecedented level."
((NARRATOR))
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine or else supply Ukraine with the military equipment it needs to defend itself. But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected those appeals after meeting with EU and NATO foreign ministers in Brussels Friday.
((Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General))
"Allies agree that we should not have NATO planes operating over Ukrainian airspace or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory."
((NARRATOR))
Stoltenberg called it a “painful decision,” explaining that to enforce such a zone, NATO would have to shoot down Russian planes, and that could result in a full-fledged war in Europe.
((NARRATOR))
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also met with NATO leaders in Brussels and faced tough questions about what the alliance could do to help Ukrainian civilians in cities across the country under Russian bombardment. Blinken said the West’s unity is hurting Putin, but it will take time.
((Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State))
“Yesterday, President Putin said his so-called special military operation is proceeding exactly as planned. Well, it is hard to imagine that his plan included inspiring the Ukrainian people to defend their country with such tenacity, strengthening the resolve and solidarity of NATO and the EU, uniting the world in opposition to Moscow, including 141 countries at the United Nations.”
((NARRATOR))
Blinken said Putin can also see that his country’s economy is now in free fall. Tens of thousands of Russians have turned out to protest his invasion of Ukraine, and countless others are leaving the country. If that was his plan, it is working, the secretary of state added.
Cindy Saine, VOA News, Washington.
NewsML Media TopicsConflict, War and Peace
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMarch 4, 2022 21:33 EST
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
