WASHINGTON — Just back from a congressional delegation trip to Ukraine, a senior Republican said he’s more optimistic that the country can succeed in the war with the right support from the U.S. and other allies and he urged Congress to pass a long-stalled Russia sanctions bill as soon as possible.
Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio, a member of the House Armed Services Committee who led the bipartisan delegation to Ukraine, Poland, and Germany, is urging Speaker Mike Johnson to swiftly hold a vote on a widely supported sanctions proposal. The measure would slap steep tariffs on countries buying Russia’s oil, gas and other exports as a way to curb the cash flow that is fueling its industrial production and war machine.
Turner said President Donald Trump is right: Ukraine can succeed in winning back territory from Russia “with the right support — and that’s the caveat.”
“What you see on the ground in Ukraine is this really is an issue of math,” Turner said at a briefing in Washington.
“Russia’s economy is allowing them to produce the weapons of war, and those weapons of war are resulting in the murderous battlefield in Ukraine,” he said. “And the only way you’re going to be able to impact that is to turn the spigot off on the Russian economy — that’s going to impact their ability to wage war in Ukraine.”
The strong push from a senior Republican lawmaker gives a fresh boost to the sanctions bill, which has languished for months on Capitol Hill waiting for the green light from the Trump administration despite its widespread support. Almost all senators and many House members have signed on to the bill, a rare bipartisan consensus in the U.S. Congress.
It would impose what lawmakers say would be crushing sanctions — tariffs of up to 500% on goods from countries, such as China and India, that buy oil, gas and other exports from Russia. Other leaders have balked, including Hungary’s Viktor Orban, who said Friday that dropping Russia’s energy would be a “disaster” for his own country’s economy.
Speaker Johnson’s office did not immediately provide a comment on Turner’s request.
Turner said the view from Ukraine was far different than a recent Armed Services briefing he received in Washington, which was “much more dire.”
“Having been in Ukraine, it is clear that Ukrainian ingenuity, their resilience, their tenacity is holding, and that Russia is not being successful,” he said.
Trump, he said, is correct that Ukraine can win back ground in the war.
“With our appropriate support, including economic sanctions, I believe that Russia will not be successful,” he said.
In the letter to Johnson, Turner also made it clear that he believes Putin won’t stop at Ukraine.
“What I witnessed made clear that Russia’s war is not confined to Ukraine — it is a direct threat to NATO itself,” he wrote to the speaker.
“Putin’s ambitions extend well beyond Ukraine’s borders, and his regime has shown it will stop at nothing to erode freedom, democracy, and the rule of law across Europe. There is no time to waste,” he wrote.
He said Russia’s recent drone incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace are not accidents — they are calculated provocations that strike at NATO territory and European security.
“Congress must act decisively to confront Russian aggression, deny Putin any further opportunity to destabilize our allies, and provide the President with the tools he needs to end this war.”
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