U.S., Ukrainian leaders call on Russia to return nuclear plant -White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a phone call honouring Ukraine's independence day, called on Moscow on Thursday to hand over control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Ukrainian authorities.

Biden and Zelenskiy also called for international officials to assess the plant's safety, amid fears of a nuclear disaster, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of shelling the site near front lines in southern Ukraine.

"The two leaders also called for Russia to return full control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to Ukraine and for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to the plant," the White House said in a readout of the call.

The nuclear reactor complex, Europe's largest, was seized by invading Russian forces in March and remains close to front lines, coming under repeated fire in recent weeks.

"Russia should agree to (a) demilitarized zone around the plant" and allow the IAEA visit "as soon as possible to check on the safety and security of the system", White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a briefing with reporters prior to the publication of the readout.

Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have said personnel from the U.N. nuclear watchdog could visit the plant soon.

In the call, Biden also reinforced U.S. support for Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia six months ago in what Ukraine and the West described as an unprovoked war of conquest. Moscow says it is carrying out a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" its smaller neighbor.

"I know it is a bittersweet anniversary, but I made it clear that the United States would continue to support Ukraine and its people as they fight to defend their sovereignty," Biden said on Twitter.

(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Steve Holland, Rami Ayyub and Kanishka Singh; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Grant McCool and Mark Heinrich)