Senior Republican urges swift action on Russia sanctions bill after Ukraine trip

WASHINGTON — A senior Republican who just led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine, Poland and Germany says Ukraine can beat back Russia with the right support from the United States and its allies and pressed Congress to move quickly on a long-stalled Russia sanctions bill.

Rep. Michael Turner of Ohio, a member of the House Armed Services Committee who led the trip, told reporters that he wants Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the sanctions proposal to a vote soon. The measure would impose steep tariffs of up to 500% on goods from countries that buy Russia's oil, gas and other exports, a bid to choke Moscow's war-finance engine. Turner said Russia's economy is enabling the production of weapons of war that fuel the battlefield in Ukraine, and the only way to impact that is to turn the spigot off on the Russian economy. He added that the proposal has broad bipartisan support in Congress but has languished for months awaiting a green light from the Trump administration.

Turner said the view from Ukraine contrasts with a recent Armed Services briefing in Washington that he described as "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. He echoed Trump’s view that Ukraine can regain ground in the war, adding, "With our appropriate support, including economic sanctions, I believe that Russia will not be successful."

In a letter accompanying his remarks and sent to Johnson, Turner argued that Russia’s war is not confined to Ukraine and poses a broader threat to NATO. "What I witnessed made clear that Russia’s war is not confined to Ukraine — it is a direct threat to NATO itself," he wrote. "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 said Russia’s recent drone incursions into Polish and Romanian airspace are not accidents but calculated provocations designed to destabilize 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."