MOSCOW (AA) – Russia firmly supports equal access to peaceful nuclear technologies and restrictions on the spread of nuclear military technologies, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

Russia was the first to create a fast neutron reactor and the first floating nuclear power plants and is developing shipbuilding and nuclear propulsion systems, Putin said at a meeting in St. Petersburg with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“Our position is that everything should be done to limit the spread of military nuclear technologies,” he said.

Putin added that nowadays, everything connected to the study and development of the nuclear sector is being politicized.

“We very much hope that thanks to your efforts, we will be able to reduce all the rhetoric on this matter and bring this area of our activity and cooperation to normal, despite all the turbulence and complex processes that are taking place on the world stage,” he said.

Putin then invited Grossi to discuss all related topics, including the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

For his part, Grossi said Russia has always supported the work of the IAEA and the equal and peaceful use of nuclear energy by all nations.

“As you know, now the issues of energy, global warming and many things in one form or another are related to nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is relevant both for today and for tomorrow,” he said.

Grossi noted that “today’s issues determine the importance” of his conversation with Putin, and they are “extremely important because there are topics that are directly related to nuclear security.”

He also said he is making efforts to prevent a nuclear catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia power plant.