He knows what he's doing, Blix tells AFP.
At the same time, concern is growing in the West and Ukraine about what could happen to the nuclear power plant, which Russia controls after the invasion of Ukraine.
Blix was the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981 to 1987 and established before the Gulf War that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.
And before the Iraq War in 2003, he led inspectors who were to investigate whether Iraq's ruler Saddam Hussein had such weapons, but they found no evidence of it. The USA and its allies behind the invasion claimed the opposite.
Russian mistake
He described the invasion as a major American mistake. He also believes that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is.
Putin knows he made a mistake and I'm sure he regrets it, says Blix.
Last week, the IAEA warned that security at Zaporizhzhia had deteriorated as a result of a drone attack nearby. Both sides have accused each other of jeopardizing the security of the facility.
Not intentional
Blix does not believe, he says, that Russia would intentionally attack the plant.
It would surprise me greatly if Russia had not told its forces to refrain from doing something that could cause great harm.
And about implicit or indirect threats to use nuclear weapons in the war, Blix says:
He's rattling them and threatening, but he's no fool.
