Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to hold talks with US President Donald Trump in the White House in what could be the most consequential meeting in the country's recent history, while Russia continued its deadly air assaults against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities and towns.

"The barbarism that we saw overnight, the attack of Kyiv, shows just how important that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time," Carney said

Nearly a third of the Ukrainian capital was left without heat amid freezing temperatures after Russian drones knocked out municipal heating plants. More than two dozen people were wounded in the overnight barrage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on December 26 that he will meet with US President Donald Trump, likely over the weekend, as Washington accelerates efforts to broker a peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow.

KYIV, Ukraine >> Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital with waves of missiles and attack drones today, an hourslong assault that came the day before President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine’s scheduled meeting in Florida with President Donald Trump to discuss a plan to end the war.