Grossi declared his readiness to leave the IAEA if elected to the post of UN Secretary General.

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, announced his readiness to leave his post if elected Secretary General of the United Nations (UN). He said this in an interview with RIA Novosti on December 27.

"Of course, if I am elected Secretary General of the United Nations, I will, of course, leave this post. I will do this with a deep sense of commitment to what I have been doing here," he stressed.

The head of the IAEA noted that over the past six years, the agency has managed to significantly expand the scope and areas of activity. He recalled that special attention was paid to the promotion of nuclear energy, which is currently experiencing a new stage of growth, as well as applications focused on the needs of developing countries.

Among them, Grossi named the initiatives Ray of Hope, Atoms for Food, Atoms for Zero Emissions, the ZODIAC program and projects in the field of new technologies, including developments in the field of thermonuclear fusion. According to him, the implementation of these areas became possible thanks to the broad support of the agency's member states.

"Everything I have done is 100% consistent with what I stated as a candidate in 2019. I said: this is how I see the IAEA. This is an agency that can do much more than it is doing now, in coordination with the Member States, and not following any of my personal ideas. And you have seen that all these flagship projects have been supported, especially by developing countries," he said.

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Alexey Likhachev, head of the Rosatom State Corporation, announced on November 27 that the IAEA, under Grossi's leadership, remains the only non-politicized international organization. He also noted that Grossi's nomination to the post of UN Secretary General "makes sense."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 28 that Russia highly appreciates cooperation with the IAEA. He also commented on Argentina's nomination of Grossi for the post of UN Secretary General, saying that Russia would take a comprehensive approach to the situation.

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