“Any critical incident in the energy system could lead to a nuclear disaster – a day like that must never come,” Zelensky said.
“Moscow needs to understand this, and this depends in part on your determination to put pressure on the aggressor.
“These are nuclear power plants. They must be safe.”
The UN nuclear watchdog warned last month that safety at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Russian-occupied Ukraine was deteriorating.
It followed a strike near the site’s perimeter, close to essential water sprinkler ponds and about 100m from the only remaining high-voltage line.
The plant was seized by Russian forces early in the war and has come under repeated attacks, which both sides have blamed the other for.
Zelensky said in his speech on Wednesday that Russia had destroyed all of Ukraine’s thermal power plants and a large part of its hydroelectric capacity as a way to “torment” Ukrainians ahead of winter.
“Energy must stop being used as a weapon,” he said.
A major power plant near Kyiv was completely destroyed by Russian strikes in April, and millions of Ukrainians have suffered blackouts this year alone.
While in the United States, Zelensky says he plans to meet President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
An official on Donald Trump’s campaign said the Republican nominee would not meet the Ukrainian leader – despite statements from officials in Kyiv last week saying Zelensky was planning to see the former president.
Trump described Zelensky as the “greatest salesman on Earth” following his speech and claimed the US would be “stuck in that war” unless he was elected in November.
Also in his UN speech, Zelensky criticised China and Brazil for pushing for talks with Russia, questioning their motivations.
He made a renewed appeal for countries to back his proposals for a full and just peace, reiterating his position that Russian forces needed to withdraw from Ukraine’s internationally-recognised borders to bring an end to the war.
Ukraine would not accept a return to a “brutal, colonial past”, he added.
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