Penn, 65, a prominent supporter of Ukraine<\/a>, dined with Putin and the film\u2019s star, Jack Nicholson<\/a>, after the thriller-mystery\u2019s opening at the Moscow International Film Festival.<\/p>\n Recalling their conversation during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, the Oscar-winning father of two said<\/a>: \u201cWe talked about fatherhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Putin shares at least two daughters with ex-wife<\/a> Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Shkrebneva.<\/p>\n Penn remembered their dinner was \u201capproximately two to three weeks after then-President George Bush said, \u2018I looked into [Putin\u2019s] eyes and I felt like I could trust him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Sean Penn said he and Vladimir Putin talked about fatherhood during their first meeting in 2001 (Getty)<\/p>\n \u201cAnd when I say that, I have to say I was conned also,\u201d the Milk actor added. \u201cI felt that there was something genuine there. Now, we know that he is very willing to kidnap 30,000 kids<\/a>, murder a lot of people, and teach those kids to hate their parents and their country. And yet, our country isn\u2019t together enough to realize we should give them the resources to defeat him.\u201d<\/p>\n Host Kimmel pushed back, arguing: \u201cI think most of our country is. I don\u2019t know that the people running our country seem to understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked whether he and Putin talked through an interpreter, the Mystic River star said yes, but pointed out that the Russian leader \u201cclearly speaks and understands more English than he lets on.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s a KGB [the Soviet Union\u2019s former secret police agency] thing,\u201d Penn noted. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Sean Penn has been one of Ukraine\u2019s most vocal supporters in Hollywood (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)<\/p>\n The actor and director previously told The Independent<\/a> about his and Nicholson\u2019s meeting with Putin in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were put in a convoy. We knew that Putin was going to be the honored guest. In the nature of that time and space, we accepted the invitation,\u201d Penn said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe got in this convoy. And we were going as fast as they wanted to drive, with no care for whether it might have presented danger in the villages we drove through,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen farmers with pony-driven carts were trying to come across, the security people in our vehicles would lean out the window to baton them away. It was so needlessly aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n Since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Penn has been among the most outspoken critics of the war.<\/p>\n \u201cAlready a brutal mistake of lives taken and hearts broken, and if he doesn\u2019t relent, I believe Mr. Putin will have made a most horrible mistake for all of humankind,\u201d he said in a statement at the time<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cPresident Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sean-Penn-and-Vladimir-Putin.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Russia_Ukraine_War_04901.jpg\")
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