The United States said that Russia did not want to acknowledge the grave radiological risk at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, and accused Russia of using that reticence to block a nuclear non-proliferation treaty deal"s final draft.

“The Russian Federation alone decided to block consensus on a final document at the conclusion of the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Russia did so in order to block language that merely acknowledged the grave radiological risk at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine”, - reads the statement of the U.S. State Department.

The statement comes after Russia blocked an agreement on Friday on the final draft of a review of the UN treaty, considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament, over criticism of Moscow"s actions in Ukraine.

Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant soon after the war began and hold adjacent territory along the left bank of the wide river. Ukraine controls the right bank, including the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets, each of them about 10 kilometres from the plant.