The Group of Seven's Non-Proliferation Directors' Group on Monday welcomed a trip by the U.N. nuclear watchdog to Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and reiterated concerns about the safety of the plant under the control of Russian armed forces.

"We reaffirm that the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and the electricity that it produces rightly belong to Ukraine and stress that attempts by Russia to disconnect the plant from the Ukrainian power grid would be unacceptable," it said in a statement.

A team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog headed on Monday to the plant, captured by Russian troops in March but run by Ukrainian staff, and will reach it later this week. (Writing by Miranda Murray Editing by Paul Carrel)