Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner said he believes a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine is “getting closer” ahead of a meeting Sunday between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The meeting comes as Russia launched a barrage of drones over the weekend striking multiple locations across Ukraine.
“I think that Zelenskyy's coming with a plan that is workable and that could get us there,” Turner told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
But Turner, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, noted that the types of security guarantees Ukraine is seeking from Western allies could be challenging to deliver.
“It's going to be much more difficult because Ukraine wants, of course, assurances that Russia is not going to come back, that the West is going to give them the assurances that they will deter Russia in the future,” Turner said.
“Is there any sense that Russia is ready to make any concessions as well?” Karl asked.
“Well, not from what you've just seen last night. Remember, you know, even on Christmas, where they were asked to have a ceasefire, Russia has not agreed to any ceasefire. Russia continues to move forward,” Turner said. “But the Ukrainians continue to repel Russian aggression.”
Pressed by Karl on which side Trump was advocating for, Russia or Ukraine, Turner responded that Trump was on the side of “peace.”
“He's trying to balance these two forces – which is very, very difficult – to bring these two parties together,” Turner said. “But in balancing it, we have to understand that Russia's goal is to take from someone else something that's theirs.”
Turner also weighed in on the recent strikes by U.S. forces in Nigeria against what the U.S. said were ISIS targets.
"Are we now in a military conflict in Nigeria? What's going on?" Karl asked.
"This is a continuation, of course, of our conflict with ISIS. It's been around the world, Iraq, Syria. You're seeing it now in Nigeria," Turner said, adding that the strikes were undertaken in coordination with the Nigerian government.
"We're, of course, seeing that ISIS around the world has not been defeated," Turner said, adding that the U.S. will "have to continue to respond to" ISIS "or they're going to continue to be a threat."