Putin praises Trump but warns supplies of US long-range missiles to Ukraine will badly hurt ties

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States that supplies of long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington but will not change the situation on the battlefield, where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances.

The potential supply of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv will signal a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the U.S.," Putin said at a forum of international foreign policy experts in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Russian leader noted that even though Tomahawk missiles will inflict damage on Russia if supplied to Ukraine, Russian air defenses will quickly adapt to the new threat. “It will certainly not change the balance of force on the battlefield,” he added, emphasizing that the Russian military is continuously making gains against Ukraine.

Asked about Trump dismissing Russia as a “paper tiger” because of its failure to defeat its smaller neighbor after more than 3 1/2 years of fighting, Putin argued that Russia has faced all the NATO allies backing Kyiv.

“We are fighting against the entire bloc of NATO and we keep moving, keep advancing and feel confident and we are a paper tiger; what NATO itself is?” he said. “A paper tiger? Go and deal with this paper tiger then.”

A White House official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity said Russia’s economy and reputation have taken a battering because of the war as Putin has repeatedly rejected proposals for a peace deal that would have benefited his country.

At the same time, Putin hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to help negotiate peace in Ukraine and described their August summit in Alaska as productive.

“It was good that we made an attempt to search for and find possible ways to settle the Ukrainian crisis,” he said, adding that he felt “comfortable” talking to Trump.

Putin also reaffirmed his offer to the U.S. to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control pact for one more year after it expires in February. The 2010 New START treaty limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers.

“If they don't need it, we don't need it either," he said, adding that “we feel confident about our nuclear shield."

While praising Trump and trying to emphasize potential common interests, the Russian president sent a stern warning to Ukraine’s Western allies against trying to seize ships that carry Russian oil to global markers. He argued that would amount to piracy and could trigger a forceful response while sharply destabilizing the global oil market.

Asked about the detention of an oil tanker off France's Atlantic coast, which President Emmanuel Macron linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of aging tankers of uncertain ownership that are avoiding Western sanctions, Putin cast it as an attempt by Macron to distract public attention from his country's own internal problems and mockingly likened the French leader to Napoleon.

He strongly warned the West against such action, arguing that it defies international maritime law and risks triggering military confrontation. “It’s piracy, and how do you deal with pirates? You destroy them," he said.

Putin also scoffed at Western claims of possible Russian involvement in recent drone flights over Denmark, casting them as part of purported NATO efforts to “inflame tensions to boost the defense spending.”

Intrusions into NATO’s airspace blamed on Russia reached an unprecedented scale last month. A swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland, Estonia complained about an intrusion by Russian fighter jets and numerous unidentified drones were sighted over Denmark, Germany and other countries in what some European officials described as Moscow testing NATO's response.

European defense ministers have agreed to develop a “drone wall” along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.

Putin dismissed Western allegations of Russia’s purported aggressive plans against NATO allies as “nonsense” aimed at distracting public attention from domestic problems.

“We are carefully watching the growing militarization of Europe,” he said. “Is all of this just words or is it time for us to take countermeasures? No one should have doubt that Russia’s countermeasures will not take a long time to come.”

Asked about Charlie Kirk's assassination, Putin called it a “heinous crime” that reflected a “deep split" in American society. He hailed Kirk as a hero killed for promoting the same conservative values that Russia shares.

Putin also praised Michael Gloss, an American and the son of a deputy CIA chief, who joined the Russian military and was killed in action in Ukraine in 2024. He said he had awarded Gloss with a medal, which he handed to Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Moscow.

The Russian leader likened Gloss to Kirk, saying they championed similar “traditional” values. "He gave his life while defending those values as a Russian soldier, and Kirk gave his life while fighting for the same values in the United States,” Putin said.

In response to questions about Gloss, the CIA said in a statement that the agency “considers Michael’s passing to be a private family matter — and not a national security issue. The entire CIA family is heartbroken for their loss."

At one point during the four-hour event televised live, Putin, a former Soviet KGB officer and one-time head of Russia's top domestic security agency, misspoke and referred to himself as “the CIA director” while describing a meeting with President George W. Bush and his administration officials. “The future director,” Putin quipped as the audience broke into laughter.

Associated Press writers David Klepper and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed.

Rescuers work at the site of an apartment buildings damaged during a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press service, recruits run drills at a training ground in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Andriy Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)

President Donald Trump walks from Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Firefighters tackle the blaze after a Russian air attack that hit at Barabashovo market in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he answers questions during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (Grigory Sysoyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he answers questions during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

When President Donald Trump suspended the refugee program on day one of his current administration, thousands of people around the world who'd been so close to a new life in America found themselves abandoned.

As part of Trump's crackdown on legal and illegal migration, the Republican president has upended the decades-old refugee program that has served as a beacon for those fleeing war and persecution. In October, he resumed the program but set a historic low of refugee admissions at 7,500 — mostly white South Africans.

New restrictions were announced after an Afghan national became the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members last week. The Trump administration also plans a review of refugees let in during the Democratic Biden administration. Trump's administration has cited economic and national security concerns for its policy changes.

About 600,000 people were being processed to come to the U.S. as refugees when the program was halted, according to the administration. Aside from dozens of white South Africans let in this year, only about 100 others have been admitted as a result of a lawsuit by advocates seeking to restore the refugee program, said Mevlüde Akay Alp, a lawyer arguing the case.

The Associated Press spoke to three families whose lives have been thrown into disarray because of the changing policies.

The Dawoods fled civil war in Syria and settled in northern Iraq. They hoped to find a new home that could provide better medical care for a daughter who had fallen from the fourth floor of the family’s apartment building.

After they were accepted as refugees to the U.S., son Ibrahim and his sister Ava relocated to Connecticut in November 2024. His parents and one of his brothers were scheduled to fly in January.

But just two days before they were to board their flight, mother Hayat Fatah fainted at a medical check and her departure was postponed. Mohammed, another sibling, didn't want to leave his parents behind.

Nearly a year later, he and his parents are still waiting.

In America, Ibrahim wakes up early to tutor people online before going to his job as a math teacher at a private school, and then he takes care of his sister when he gets home. He said his mother often cries when they talk because she wishes she were in America to help care for her daughter.

Chinese Christian Lu Taizhi fled to Thailand more than a decade ago, fearing persecution for his beliefs. He’s lived in legal limbo since, waiting to be resettled in the United States.

Lu said he has long admired the U.S. for what he calls its Christian character — a place where he feels he and his family “can seek freedom.”

Lu was born into a family branded as “hostile elements” by the Chinese Communist Party for its land ownership and ties to a competing political party. A teacher and poet, Lu grew interested in history banned by the Chinese state, penning tributes to the bloody 1989 Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing.

In 2004, Lu was arrested after police found poems and essays he secretly published criticizing Chinese politics and the education system. After his release, Lu became a Christian and began preaching, drawing scrutiny from local authorities.

With Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s rise to power, controls tightened. When Beijing arrested hundreds of rights lawyers in 2015, Lu took his family and fled, settling in Thailand, where they applied for refugee status with the United Nations.

Eight years later, the U.N. notified Lu the U.S. had accepted his application. But after several delays, his most recent flight was canceled shortly after Trump’s inauguration. His application has been put on hold indefinitely.

Louis arrived in the United States as a refugee in September 2024. He left his wife and two children in East Africa, hoping they could soon be reunited in the U.S.

But that dream faded a few months later with Trump's return to the presidency.

Louis, who insisted on being identified only by his first name out of concern that speaking publicly could complicate his case, was told in January that a request he had made to bring his family to the U.S. had been frozen due to changes in refugee policies.

Now, the family members live thousands of miles apart without knowing when they will be reunited. His wife, Apolina, and the children, 2 and 3 years old, are in a refugee camp in Uganda. Louis is in Kentucky.

“I don’t want to lose her, and she does not want to lose me,” said Louis, who resettled in Kentucky with the help of the International Rescue Committee.

Louis and Apolina's families applied for refugee status after fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Louis' application, initiated by his parents, was approved, Apolina's, made separately by her parents, was not.

Apolina thought that, as the wife of a refugee, it would take her no more than one year to reunite with her husband, who now works in an appliance factory and has already applied for permanent residency.

The separation hasn’t been easy for her and the children, who live in a tent in the refugee camp.

Santana reported from Washington, Kang from Beijing and Salomon from Miami. Associated Press writers Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, and Salar Salim in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report.

Lu Taizhi, a Chinese Christian who is waiting to be resettled in the United States, points to the webpage of the International Rescue Committee, which is under maintenance and not operational in Ban Wawee village, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/ Tian Macleod Ji)

Syrian refugee Abdulilah Amin Dawoud, 73, poses for a picture at his home in Irbil, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)

Syrian refugee Hayat Fatah, 65, cleans dishes at her home in Irbil, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)

Syrian refugee Mohammed Dawood, 30, left, poses for a photo with his parents, Hayat Fatah, 65, center, and Abdulilah Amin Dawoud, 73, at their home in Irbil, Iraq, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Farid Abdulwahed)