Senior Republican says Ukraine can beat back Russia and urges action on
sanctions bill
[September 27, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
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House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner, R-Ohio, speaks with reporters
on Capitol Hill, Feb. 15, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam
Zuhaib, File)
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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