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.

To achieve peace in Ukraine, the incoming Trump administration will have to turn off Russia’s most active ally — North Korea. Last year, after watching Russia falter in Europe’s largest war since World War II,

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,

Some businesses have begun using crypto, including bitcoin, to make international payments, Russia's finance minister said.

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Russian companies are using bitcoin to evade Western sanctions, thanks to a new law, the country's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov confirmed in a television interview. Why it matters: Russia's economy has been hampered by difficulties in making and receiving international payments,