International

Leaders of the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany have called for restraint around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, as artillery shells continued to rain down on a city near the facility.

In a statement on Sunday, the White House said the four leaders spoke by phone and discussed the situation at Zaporizhzhia, “including the need to avoid military operations near” the plant, which is Europe’s biggest atomic power station.

US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke about the importance of a visit to the nuclear site by independent inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as soon as possible, it added.