In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. President Trump and congressional leaders

aren't expected to meet any time soon to discuss ending the government shutdown. House Speaker

Mike Johnson is calling on Democrats to support a Republican

bill to reopen the government at current spending levels, but Democrats are holding out. They're

calling for an extension of tax credits for health plans offered under the Affordable Care Act.

Johnson says Democrats are asking for a wild list of partisan priorities. It is selfish,

it is reprehensible, and it is exactly the opposite

of what they have all said themselves in their own words very passionately every day until now.

Republican leaders say the Obamacare tax credits can wait since the subsidies expire at the end

of the year. Russian President Vladimir Putin says it is Europe's responsibility to end the war in Ukraine.

Putin's comments come at a political forum where he also touched on recent remarks by President Trump.

NPR's Charles Mainz has details from Moscow.

In his remarks, Putin blamed Europe for dragging out the war in Ukraine through its military support for Kiev

and vowed to respond

to Europe's militarization amid what he argued were falsely hyped Russian threats. Yet Putin said

reports that the U.S. was considering providing American-made Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine

would mark a new stage of escalation. Putin also took aim at President Trump's recent comments

calling Russia a paper tiger over its failure to subdue its neighbor.

...