Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin swiftly exited an interview to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump. A video that emerged online shows Putin amid a panel interview with a packed crowd, informing them that he needs to leave to speak with Trump or risks upsetting him. "Please don't be angry, I understand that we could talk more, but it's so awkward to make [Trump] wait, he could get offended. Thank you very much, good luck," Putin told the crowd.

The Kremlin has doubled its funding in 2025 for Yunarmiya ("Youth Army"), the state-sponsored youth organization that combines ideological indoctrination with military training for children and teenagers. According to documents reviewed by the independent Mozhem Obyasnit news outlet, Yunarmia is receiving 1 billion rubles (approximately $11 million) in funding this year, the largest amount since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This year, Yunarmiya is set to receive 800 million rubles ($9.7 million) in state subsidies through the Youth and Children national project, which was launched in 2024 by presidential decree to create “advanced schools” across Russia’s regions. The funds will...

President Donald Trump said Thursday that no progress was made in ending the war with Ukraine after he conducted another lengthy call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews ahead of a trip to Des Moines, Iowa. -snip- We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things including Iran and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine,' Trump said. 'And I'm not happy about that,' he said. Trump was then asked if he made progress with Putin on a peace deal with...

President Trump spoke by phone Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine but made no headway on halting the fighting. “I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” Trump said of Putin, speaking to reporters as he left Washington to deliver a speech in Iowa. According to a Kremlin briefing on the call, Trump urged Putin to quickly end the war in Ukraine but Putin refused. It was the two leaders’ first conversation since U.S. officials said this week they had paused a series of weapons shipments for Ukraine. Trump indicated the U.S. hadn’t...