Pope Francis called Wednesday for "arms to be silenced" around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza.

He used his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" ("to the city and the world") message to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics to call for talks for a just peace in Ukraine as the country was pummelled by 170 Russian missiles and drones on Christmas morning.