Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia carried out a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using a record number of ballistic missiles, one day before peace talks with Moscow and Washington are set to resume in Abu Dhabi.

Zelenskyy said the attack involved more than 70 missiles — among them 32 ballistic and 28 cruise — as well as more than 450 attack drones that targeted eight regions including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said five people were injured and three more were rescued in Kharkiv after a drone strike caused a fire in a residential high-rise building.

"The Russian army exploited the U.S. proposal to briefly halt strikes not to support diplomacy, but to stockpile missiles and wait until the coldest days of the year, when temperatures across large parts of Ukraine drop below -20°C (-4°F)," Zelenskyy wrote on X.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES 'WANT TO MAKE A DEAL'

The large-scale strikes came after President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to pause attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for one week, as freezing temperatures caused widespread power and heating outages.

Trump announced the weeklong pause Thursday, but Russia resumed its attacks several days before the period was set to expire, striking a maternity ward in Zaporizhzhia and a bus of Ukrainian miners, leaving 12 people dead.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

ZELENSKYY ANNOUNCES NEXT ROUND OF TALKS WITH US, RUSSIA AS UKRAINE AIMS FOR 'REAL AND DIGNIFIED END TO THE WAR

Residents took to subway and metro stations on Monday to hide underground as air raid alerts sounded throughout the night.

"With temperatures dropping to -25°C (-13°F), Russia knowingly yet again aims to leave hundreds of thousands of people, including children and the elderly, without heating or electricity," said Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s prime minister. 

"This is an attempt to freeze civilians into surrender. Thanks to Ukraine’s air defense forces, the majority of missiles and drones were intercepted," she added.

Zelenskyy said the work of his negotiating team will be "adjusted accordingly" as his country prepares for another round of meetings in the United Arab Emirates with U.S. and Russian officials on Wednesday and Thursday.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev in Florida on Saturday and said the discussions were constructive, amid ongoing hostilities in Ukraine.

"We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine and is grateful for @POTUS’s critical leadership in seeking a durable and lasting peace," Witkoff wrote on X.

A Russian drone strike hit a bus carrying miners in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday, killing at least 12 people.

Ukrainian emergency services later reported the death toll had risen to 15 in one of the deadliest single attacks on energy workers since the start of the war. 

The attack Sunday came a few hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a new round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia had been postponed.

A spokesperson for DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, which employed the workers, told Fox News Digital that drones had targeted the bus as it traveled "roughly 40 miles from the front line in central and eastern Ukraine."

The DTEK spokesperson also described the incident as a "terrorist attack on civilian infrastructure."

"This strike was a targeted terrorist attack against civilians and another crime by Russia against critical infrastructure," the spokesperson added.

RUSSIA UNLEASHES MAJOR DRONE, MISSILE ATTACK ON UKRAINE AS US DIPLOMATIC TALKS CONTINUE

The bus was transporting miners after the end of their shift when it was hit by a Russian drone, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine also confirmed.

At least seven workers were injured, and a fire sparked by the impact was later extinguished by emergency crews.

"The epicenter of one of the attacks was a company bus transporting miners from the enterprise after a shift in the Dnipropetrovsk region," the company also said in a statement.

Zelenskyy condemned the strike late Sunday, calling it another deliberate attack on civilians.

RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE PEACE TALKS 'PROCEEDING CONSTRUCTIVELY,' AS KREMLIN LAUNCHES DEADLY STRIKE ON ODESA

Earlier in the day, he announced that the next round of trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. would now take place Feb. 4-5 in Abu Dhabi, after originally being expected for Sunday.

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," Zelenskyy said on X, adding that the delay had been agreed to by all sides.

The delay followed a surprise meeting Saturday in Florida between Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s special envoy and head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The talks in Abu Dhabi are now expected to include representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S., according to The Associated Press.

UKRAINE RACES TO BOLSTER AIR DEFENSES AS PUTIN’S STRIKE PAUSE NEARS END

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy warned Russia is stepping up its aerial campaign against civilian and logistical targets. 

"Over the past week, Russia has used more than 980 attack drones, nearly 1,100 guided aerial bombs, and two missiles against Ukraine," he wrote on X on Sunday. "We are recording Russian attempts to destroy logistics and connectivity between cities and communities."

In a statement, DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko also explained the bus attack marked the company’s "single largest loss [of] life of DTEK employees since Russia's full-scale invasion."

"We can already say with certainty that this was an unprovoked terrorist attack on a purely civilian target, for which there can be no justification," Timchenko said.

The attack marked "one of the darkest days in our history," he added. "DTEK teams are working with emergency services on the ground in Dnipropetrovsk region to ensure the injured, and families who have lost loved ones, get all the care and support they need. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten," he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that a new round of talks involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia will take place this week, as Kyiv presses for progress toward ending the war while Moscow continues strikes across the country.

Writing on X, Zelenskyy said the meetings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

"Ukraine is ready for a substantive discussion, and we are interested in ensuring that the outcome brings us closer to a real and dignified end to the war," Zelenskyy wrote.

The announcement comes as Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine’s energy and logistics infrastructure, worsening conditions for civilians as winter temperatures plunge.

US ACCUSES RUSSIA OF 'DANGEROUS AND INEXPLICABLE ESCALATION' IN UKRAINE WAR DURING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

Ukrainian officials say Moscow has repeatedly targeted power grids, heating and water systems throughout the nearly four-year war, a campaign Kyiv has described as an effort to use winter conditions as a weapon against the civilian population.

Authorities warned that Ukraine is facing one of its coldest stretches of the season, with temperatures in some areas expected to fall as low as minus-22 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

President Donald Trump said late last week that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to temporarily halt strikes on Kyiv and other cities amid the extreme cold.

ZELENSKYY SAYS US SECURITY GUARANTEES DOCUMENT IS '100% READY' FOR SIGNING

"I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week during this… extraordinary cold," Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, adding that Putin had "agreed to that."

The White House has not provided details on the timing or scope of the pause, and Ukrainian officials have expressed skepticism about Russia’s intentions.

Zelenskyy said Thursday that key obstacles to a peace agreement remain unresolved, including the future of occupied Ukrainian territory and Moscow’s demands for land it has not captured.

Russia struck Ukrainian energy facilities in several regions on Thursday, Zelenskyy said, though he noted that no such strikes occurred overnight. He added that Russian drones and missiles have continued to hit residential areas and logistics hubs across Ukraine.

Trump has described Putin’s acceptance of a pause as a concession, but Zelenskyy questioned whether Moscow is genuinely interested in ending the war as the invasion approaches its fourth anniversary on Feb. 24.

"I do not believe that Russia wants to end the war. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary," Zelenskyy said Thursday.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said he had "productive and constructive meetings" with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev as part of the Trump administration's ongoing effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

"We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine and is grateful for [the president's] critical leadership in seeking a durable and lasting peace," Witkoff wrote on X.

During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Witkoff said progress had been made and that there had been "lots of good things happening between the counterparties discussing the land deal."

"I think the people of Ukraine are now hopeful and expecting that we're going to deliver a peace deal sometime soon," Witkoff added.

TRUMP SAYS PUTIN AGREED TO HALT KYIV STRIKES FOR ONE WEEK AMID BRUTAL COLD

The meetings were held Saturday in Florida, according to Witkoff, and included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and White House senior advisor Josh Gruenbaum. Witkoff and Kushner have been two of the key players from the Trump administration not only in the Russia-Ukraine deal, but also others, including the Israel-Gaza peace plan.

Witkoff, Kushner and Gruenbaum also met with Putin earlier this month in Moscow shortly after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. After the meeting in Moscow, Witkoff, Kushner, Gruenbaum and other U.S. representatives met with negotiators from Ukraine and Russia. The talks were said to be constructive despite obstacles to peace remaining.

"A lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X. "As a result of the meetings held over these days, all sides agreed to report back in their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders."

ZELENSKYY TOUTS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TRILATERAL TALKS BETWEEN THE US, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE IN ABU DHABI

Nearly four years after Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion, Ukrainians are facing a brutal winter, and Russian strikes on Kyiv's energy resources have made conditions worse. However, President Donald Trump said Thursday at his Cabinet meeting that Putin had agreed to a temporary pause in targeting Kyiv and other places in the region experiencing the frigid weather.

"And because of the cold, extreme cold — they have the same that we do — I personally asked President Putin not to fire on Kyiv and the cities and towns for a week," Trump said, adding that Putin had "agreed to do that." The president classified the weather in the region as being "record-setting cold."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Friday that Trump had made the request for Putin to stop targeting Kyiv until Feb. 1 "in order to create favorable conditions for negotiations," The Associated Press reported. The outlet noted it was odd that the Kremlin spokesperson mentioned Feb. 1, as it would mean it was only a two-day pause. Additionally, the AP reported that the cold weather forecast is expected to get worse after Sunday.

Russia and Ukraine will hold another round of peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi Sunday, according to The Kyiv Independent. However, it is unclear whether the U.S. will participate in the talks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian attack drones struck a civilian passenger train in the Kharkiv region on Tuesday, killing at least four people in what he called an "act of terrorism."

"In any country, a drone strike on a civilian train would be regarded in the same way – purely as an act of terrorism. There would be no doubt about the classification, neither in Europe, nor in America, nor in the Arab world, nor in China, nor anywhere else," he wrote in a post on X. "There is, and can be, no military justification for killing civilians in a train carriage."

The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday on Telegram that the number of confirmed fatalities had risen to five, with two people injured and one man reported missing.

Oleksiy Kuleba, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said three Russian drones were used in the attack on the train, which was carrying more than 200 people.

ZELENSKYY SAYS FRESH RUSSIAN ATTACK ON UKRAINE SHOWS PUTIN'S 'TRUE ATTITUDE' AHEAD OF TRUMP MEETING

Eighteen passengers were inside the carriage hit by one of the drones, he added.

The attack followed trilateral talks between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington in Abu Dhabi over the weekend that were aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said the meetings were "very constructive" and plans were being made for the sides to meet again this week.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES 'WANT TO MAKE A DEAL'

"President Trump and his entire team are dedicated to bringing peace to this war," Witkoff said.

Russia has continued to strike Kyiv’s energy infrastructure during negotiations, leaving thousands of residents without power and heat as winter conditions persist.

RUSSIA HAS SUFFERED MORE CASUALTIES IN UKRAINE WAR THAN ALL OTHER CONFLICTS COMBINED SINCE WWII: PENTAGON

Zelenskyy said significant outages remain across the region, with hundreds of residential buildings in three districts of the capital still without heating despite ongoing repair efforts.

"Repair crews are working at maximum capacity. Crews from almost across the entire country have been deployed to assist," he noted.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a long-anticipated document on U.S. security guarantees is "100% ready" for signing, with Kyiv now waiting for its American partners to confirm the date and place before the agreement moves to ratification in both the U.S. Congress and the Ukrainian parliament.

"For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ready," Zelenskyy said Sunday at a joint press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, with the presidents of Lithuania and Poland, according to a translation of his remarks from Reuters.

Zelenskyy reiterated at the press conference that Ukraine views membership in the European Union as another core security guarantee and is aiming to join the bloc by 2027, the Ukrainian president's office said in a statement on its website.

His remarks come after Ukraine, Russia and the United States held trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi for two days over the weekend.

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Zelenskyy said on X that the discussions, which involved political and military representatives from all three sides, were "constructive" and focused on potential parameters for ending his country's war with Russia.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES LARGEST ATTACK ON UKRAINE THIS MONTH FOLLOWING TRUMP'S MEETING WITH PUTIN, ZELENSKYY

The talks in the United Arab Emirates followed a meeting in Moscow on Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and head of the Federal Acquisition Service Josh Gruenbaum.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the "extremely frank" discussions lasted roughly four hours and included U.S. officials updating Moscow on their recent conversations with Ukrainian and European leaders, according to a summary of the meeting from the Kremlin.

Territorial issues remain a key obstacle in the negotiations, with Moscow pressing Kyiv to relinquish parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russian forces do not fully control.

ZELENSKYY SAYS UKRAINE, AHEAD OF TRUMP MEETING, IS ‘WILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES’ TO END WAR WITH RUSSIA

U.S. officials told Axios that negotiations examined the full range of unresolved issues, from Russia’s territorial demands in the Donbas to control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and potential steps to prevent a return to fighting.

Another U.S. official told the outlet a second round of talks is scheduled to take place on Feb. 1.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday described recent trilateral talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi as "constructive," saying the meetings marked the first format of their kind in some time and focused on potential parameters for ending Moscow’s war.

Zelenskyy said the talks, which were hosted by the United Arab Emirates over two days, involved political and military representatives from all three sides and addressed security-related issues, including the need for American monitoring and oversight.

"A lot was discussed, and it is important that the conversations were constructive," he wrote on X, noting the delegations could have further meetings as early as next week. "As a result of the meetings held over these days, all sides agreed to report back in their capitals on each aspect of the negotiations and to coordinate further steps with their leaders."

The Abu Dhabi talks followed a meeting in Moscow on Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum, the head of the Federal Acquisition Service.

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Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the "extremely frank" discussions lasted roughly four hours and included U.S. officials updating Moscow on their recent conversations with Ukrainian and European leaders.

"Importantly, the participants in the conversation between the President of Russia and the Americans reaffirmed the fact that bringing about a lasting settlement would be unlikely without addressing the territorial issue based on the formula as agreed in Anchorage," Ushakov said, according to a summary of the meeting from the Kremlin.

Territorial issues remain a key obstacle in the negotiations, with Moscow pressing Kyiv to relinquish parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region that Russian forces do not fully control.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE TO DISCUSS TERRITORY AS TRUMP SAYS BOTH SIDES ‘WANT TO MAKE A DEAL’

The diplomatic efforts come as Russia continues its strikes across Ukraine, targeting the country’s energy sector, critical infrastructure and residential areas.

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Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russian forces launched more than 1,700 attack drones, over 1,380 guided aerial bombs and 69 missiles in the past week alone.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said ahead of the trilateral talks that it was deploying 447 emergency generators to help restore power to hospitals, shelters and critical services, as more than one million Ukrainians face outages amid freezing temperatures.

"The EU will not let Russia freeze Ukraine into submission and will continue helping Ukrainians get through this winter," the commission said.

The U.S., Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to discuss one of the major sticking points stopping a deal to end the nearly four-year war: territorial disputes. The talks in Abu Dhabi are the first trilateral talks since 2022.

The trilateral sit-down comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump in Davos and Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Witkoff and Kushner traveled to the UAE for the talks after their meeting with Putin in Moscow on Thursday.

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Zelenskyy and Putin are under increasing pressure to reach a peace deal as the fourth anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches and President Donald Trump pushes to end the war.

While Russia has demanded Ukraine cede the Donbas, Zelenskyy has stood firm in his opposition to making land concessions, though the discussions in Abu Dhabi suggest that he could be ready to negotiate. Putin is demanding Ukraine surrender the 20% it holds of the Donetsk region of the Donbas, according to Reuters.

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"The question of Donbas is key. It will be discussed how the three sides... see this in Abu Dhabi today and tomorrow," Zelenskyy told reporters via WhatsApp, according to Reuters. The outlet added that an aide for Zelenskyy said the talks are expected to continue Saturday.

The envoys are meeting as Ukrainians face below-freezing temperatures after Russian strikes damaged the country's power supply.

Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine's top private power producer, told Reuters that the situation was nearing a "humanitarian catastrophe."

While speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked if the trilateral meeting could lead to one with himself, Putin and Zelenskyy. He would not commit but said that "any time we meet, it's good." He also expressed doubts about whether Putin wanted to take over all of Ukraine.

"What's happened here is there were times when Putin didn't want to make a deal, times when Zelenskyy didn't want to make a deal, and it was opposite times. Now, I think they both want to make a deal. We'll find out," Trump said.

The president also acknowledged that the topics of the discussions that were happening had been debated for months.

Russia is preparing to target Europe's biggest nuclear power plant's power lines in a move that could unfold within days, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Ukrainian officials had said Moscow's plan was focused on high-voltage transmission infrastructure rather than direct strikes on nuclear reactors, but a source has since claimed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lines (ZNPP) are Moscow’s focus.

In a statement released Jan. 17, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) had warned that Russia was weighing attacks on substations critical to nuclear power generation.

"In order to force Ukraine to sign unacceptable surrender demands to end the war, the aggressor state Russia is considering the option of attacking strategic facilities of our state's energy system — we are talking about electricity transmission substations that ensure the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants."

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"The threat is at ZNPP," a source told Fox News Digital. "There are talks of a massive attack either tonight or in the coming nights," the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that "the talks within the Ukrainian government are about ZNPP and the lines, and these talks have not been for the first time."

According to The Associated Press, Russia also targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.

ZNPP is located in southern Ukraine and consists of six VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors, and has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, according to reports.

Although the reactors are no longer producing electricity, the plant needs external power to maintain cooling and safety systems. 

The IAEA has repeatedly warned that disruptions to off-site power supplies and lines pose a serious nuclear safety risk.

A Jan. 16 localized ceasefire was agreed between Russia and Ukraine for repairs under IAEA coordination on one backup power line at ZNPP that had already been damaged.

In a statement, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Jan. 16: "The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict. This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play."

"A deterioration of Ukraine’s power grid from persistent military activity has direct implications on the nuclear safety of its nuclear facilities," Grossi said.

"Russia is said to be going to do this strike, maybe even tonight," the source said of the ZNPP operation.

RUSSIA FIRES NEW BALLISTIC MISSILE AT UKRAINE, KILLING AT LEAST FOUR

"Information also from the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukrainian Security Service, or internally, is that the Russian army told the Ukrainian army that if they don't stop shelling their tankers in the sea or shelling their oil refineries, as well as their electric stations like power stations," the source said, "then they will fully destroy Kyiv energy facilities aswell."

"The parliament knows this. But we keep shelling," the source added.

"This is a very difficult situation," the source continued, saying Ukrainian leadership, the Ukrainian parliament and "obviously the office of the president" are fully aware that "if we keep shelling Russian tankers and oil refineries, then they will destroy everything that we have."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also recently urged NATO allies to urgently deliver additional air-defense missiles, warning that some systems are running low on ammunition, according to reports.

"To actually preserve the energy in the country when it is minus 20 outside and people are literally suffering hugely," the source added. "People don't have electricity, don't have warmth and some don't even have water."

"And this is a very controversial situation," the source said, "particularly for the Ukrainian people sitting inside, hungry and freezing, and overall being in this disastrous humanitarian situation."

Fox News Digital has reached out to President Zelenskyy's office for comment.

Ukrainian drone strikes targeted energy infrastructure across Russian-controlled areas in southern Ukraine in an attack on Sunday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power.

Ukrainian officials say the attack is an effort to "weaponize winter," much as Russian forces targeted Ukraine's power grid. Russia's attacks continued in kind overnight, killing two people, Ukraine says.

More than 200,000 households in the Russia-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday, according to the Kremlin-installed local governor.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that repairing the country’s energy system remains challenging, "but we are doing everything we can to restore everything as quickly as possible."

RUSSIA SAYS UKRAINE PEACE TALKS 'PROCEEDING CONSTRUCTIVELY,' AS KREMLIN LAUNCHES DEADLY STRIKE ON ODESA

He said that two people were killed in overnight attacks across the country that struck Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa.

In total, more than 1,300 attack drones, 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types were used by Russia to strike Ukraine this week, Ukraine says.

Meanwhile, discussions continue between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia in an effort to secure a peace deal. Zelenskyy has consistently argued Russia is not committed to the peace process.

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"If Russia deliberately delays the diplomatic process, the world’s response should be decisive: more help for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor," Zelenskyy said Sunday.

President Donald Trump argued last week, however, that it was Ukraine, not Russia, holding up a possible peace agreement.

"I think he's ready to make a deal," Trump told Reuters of Putin. "I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal."

When he was asked why U.S. intervention had not brought about an end to the war, Trump responded: "Zelenskyy," Reuters reported.

Trump refused to go into detail on why he believed Zelenskyy was holding back, saying that he believes the Ukrainian president was "having a hard time getting there," referring to a peace agreement. However, later in the interview, Trump said he would be willing to meet with Zelenskyy at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A former Ukrainian prime minister has been accused of plotting to bribe politicians with stacks of U.S. dollars in a scheme aimed at weakening President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, a former political advisor has claimed.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (UNACB) first confirmed Jan. 13 it uncovered an alleged effort by the leader of an unnamed parliamentary faction to offer illegal benefits to lawmakers, according to Reuters.

Video released by UNACB showed stacks of U.S. dollars seized during overnight searches earlier this week, including footage of a woman in an office sitting behind a desk. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect.

According to the Kyiv Post, published recordings allegedly show that three lawmakers were offered $10,000 per month in exchange for their votes, with the case linked by some to Yulia Tymoshenko, a veteran politician, former prime minister and current leader of the Batkivshchyna party.

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Former Zelenskyy press secretary Iuliia Mendel told Fox News Digital the cash allegedly belonged to Tymoshenko and was intended to pay lawmakers to vote against the president’s legislative proposals.

"In Ukraine, such transactions are usually discussed in U.S. dollars, as you can see from the law enforcement reports," Mendel, a former political advisor said.

"The U.S. dollars shown in that video were allegedly hers that she was supposed to use to pay people to vote against Zelenskyy’s legislative proposals. She said it was her personal savings," Mendel added.

Mendel said the sums shown in the footage appeared relatively modest, "about $40,000," she said, noting other corruption cases in Ukraine have involved "much larger sums, sometimes millions of dollars."

The raid on Tymoshenko’s party office reportedly lasted nearly all night. 

"Officers arrived in the evening and remained in her office for almost the entire night," Mendel said.

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Investigators allege several lawmakers — reportedly including members of Zelenskyy’s own faction — approached Tymoshenko, leading to discussions about regular monthly payments in exchange for coordinated voting.

Despite reportedly being served with a notice of suspicion, Tymoshenko also addressed parliament this week, calling the case "political persecution against me."

"The so-called ‘urgent investigative actions’ that lasted all night ended at the Batkivshchyna party office. These ‘urgent investigative actions’ have nothing to do with law and order," Tymoshenko also wrote on Facebook.

According to Mendel, the goal was not to attack Zelenskyy personally but to fracture the ruling mono-majority in parliament.

ZELENSKYY MOVES TO 'CLEAN UP' UKRAINE'S ENERGY SECTOR AS CORRUPTION SCANDAL ROCKS LEADERSHIP

"Ukraine’s system is a parliamentary-presidential republic, meaning the legislature plays a central role in governance. When the president controls a mono-majority, legislation can pass quickly," Mendel said.

"Breaking that majority would significantly weaken Zelenskyy’s legislative authority."

Tymoshenko, a central figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution and Ukraine’s first female prime minister, has faced legal trouble before.

In 2011, she was jailed over a gas deal with Russia in a case widely viewed as politically motivated before being released in 2014. She is expected to appear before Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court.

"Corruption is one of the key reasons we are losing this war. It severely damages Ukraine’s image on the international stage," Mendel warned.

"By 2024, corruption had reached such a scale that Ukrainians chose an extremely dangerous and painful path — exposing it publicly in order to fight it," Mendel added.

"Now, cases like this bring the issue back into the spotlight. Corruption will destroy Ukraine."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.