Pope Francis has called for a “negotiation” to end the war in Ukraine in a Christmas Day message where he appealed for weapons to be laid down in global conflicts and reconciliation between enemies.

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he asked the U.S. Defense Department to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine after condemning Russia's Christmas Day attack against some of Ukraine's cities and its energy system.

Russia launches a Christmas Day missile attack on Ukraine as the war enters its third year. NBC News’ Erin McLaughlin reports on the shifting battleground there and in Washington, D.C.

Russia attacked Ukraine's energy system and some cities in an "inhuman" Christmas Day assault, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Russia launched aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector “on a massive scale” overnight into Wednesday, local authorities said, with explosions reported across the country amid intensified bombardments that have left Ukraine in a precarious position while the war grinds into a third winter.

Pope Francis in his Christmas message on Wednesday called for talks between Ukraine and Russia to end the war that followed Moscow's full-scale invasion two years ago and has killed tens of thousands.

Zelensky warns of greater military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, including sending more troops and military equipment

Pope Francis has called for negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to end the war triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In his traditional Christmas Day address, the Pope said "boldness [was] needed to open the door" to dialogue "in order to achieve a just and lasting peace" between the two sides.

Western equipment has slotted in to Ukraine's embattled, Soviet-era military throughout the war, including long-range missiles and advanced fighter jets.

Back then, in the first weeks of the war, Russia and Ukraine conducted several rounds of talks in person and online aimed at ending the conflict; although a framework for peace called the Istanbul Communiqué was drawn up,

Pope Francis has delivered a Christmas message calling for an immediate halt to fighting around the world. He encouraged all people and nations to "silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions." .