U.S. President Joe Biden held phone talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and received an update on the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the White House said on Thursday evening.

"President Biden joined President Zelenskyy in urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site," the White House said in a statement, adding Biden also spoke with senior officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

The fire, which broke out early Friday in Ukraine, was outside the station perimeter and has not caused any change in radiation levels.

Oleksandr Starukh, head of military administration in the Zaporizhzhia region, said on Facebook that a training building and a laboratory were affected by the blaze.

The Ukrainians claimed the fire was caused by Russian shelling. 

In a video message released on Friday, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of resorting to "nuclear terror" and wanting to "repeat" the Chernobyl disaster.

"No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units. This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind. The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror," he said.

Media reports said Zelenskyy also spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish President Andrzej Duda, European Council President Charles Michel and other leaders about the NPP fire.