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.

Earlier, a Russian cargo ship that Kyiv says was intended to collect weapons from military bases in Syria sunk on route in the Mediterranean Sea. Officials in Moscow said two crew members are missing after an engine room explosion sank the Ursa Major between Spain and Algeria.