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.

The pope also voiced concern about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in his Christmas address, labeling the situation "extremely grave."

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has, for the first time, sent combatant units abroad, to aid Russia in the war in Ukraine. As noted in the Joint Statement on the DPRK’s Deployment of Troops to Russia this development indelibly connects the Indo-Pacific and European theaters,

On Monday, December 23, the Ukrainian president claimed on his X account (formerly Twitter) that more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been “killed” or wounded” on the battlefield. This is far from the estimates of the South Korean army general staff,