Britain, France, Germany, and the United States have emphasized the necessity to protect the safety of nuclear plants in Ukraine that are threatened by the conflict.
In a Sunday phone call, the four presidents reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against the Russian incursion.
Moscow and Kiev have each accused the other of bombarding a nuclear power station under Russian control, heightening concerns of a catastrophe.
In the meantime, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukrainians to be careful before Independence Day festivities.
“Russia could attempt something very revolting and brutal,” he stated in a weekend speech.
“One of the enemy’s primary objectives is to humiliate us,” he continued, “but we must be strong enough to withstand any provocation.”
On August 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day, it will be six months since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Sunday’s conference call brought together British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US Vice President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to discuss the situation.
Following its conclusion, they advocated military caution around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southern Ukraine, where increased fighting has sparked concerns of a catastrophe worse than the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.
The leaders hailed a deal – signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday – that will let UN inspectors visit the facility in the future.
The four presidents also stated that they “decided to maintain support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.”
On Sunday, Ukraine reported additional missile strikes, particularly in the town of Nikopol near the Zaporizhia power plant.
On Saturday, a new drone attack targeted Russia’s Black Sea fleet in the Russian-annexed Crimean port of Sevastopol. According to local Russian authorities, a Ukrainian drone was shot down.
In recent days, many drone strikes have been reported in Crimea, including one on a nearby airbase on Thursday and another on the harbor on Friday.
Nine Russian jets were destroyed earlier this month at a Russian military station on the western coast of Crimea.
In 2014, Russia invaded and occupied the peninsula, and Ukraine has promised to recapture it. Kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the recent strikes.
In Russia, the daughter of a close confidant of President Putin, the ultra-nationalist intellectual Alexander Dugin, was reportedly killed by a vehicle bomb on Saturday night.
29-year-old Darya Dugina perished in a roadside blast outside Moscow.
It is believed that her father, who is known as “Putin’s brain,” was the target of the attack.
Both had attended a patriotic celebration as guests. Putin is thought to have been influenced by Aleksandr Dugin’s writings on the necessity of restoring the Russian empire.
