Rep. Mike Turner on Sunday condemned Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine and urged the U.S. to maintain support for Kyiv, just hours before President Trump was to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Mr. Turner, Ohio Republican, said that Moscow’s missile and drone attacks on Kyiv over the weekend were just the latest example of the horrors of the war in Eastern Europe and that the Trump administration must support Ukraine in its defense.
“You showed the images of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin continuing to remind us that this is a war of aggression, as Putin mercilessly pounds Kyiv in civilian homes.” Mr. Turner told ABC’s Jonathan Karl. “He’s reminding us that we can’t be for this, America, when we address the issue of whose side we’re on. You can’t be American first and be pro-Russia.”
The comments come after Russia on Saturday launched one of its most brutal bombardments of the Ukrainian capital in months, hitting Kyiv with more than 500 drones and 40 high-powered Kinzhal missiles. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 22 others, authorities said.
The strikes targeted key points in Kyiv’s energy infrastructure, with the city’s TPP-5 and Bila Tserkva power plants taking severe damage. More than 320,000 homes were without electricity Saturday as a result of strikes.
The strikes could cast a pall over Mr. Zelenskyy’s meeting with Mr. Trump at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where the two are expected to discuss the status of the ongoing peace process on Sunday. Mr. Zelenkskyy said Saturday that the latest attacks are Russia’s response to the peace efforts.
Mr. Turner echoed the Ukrainian president’s comments, stressing the difficulties facing Mr. Trump and Mr. Zelenskyy in negotiating an end to the war.
“They’re on the side of democracy, liberty. And Russia is on the side of authoritarianism and aggression,” Mr. Turner said. “Trump is on the side of peace, and he’s trying to balance these two forces, which is very, very difficult to bring these two parties together, but in balancing it, we have to understand that Russia’s goal is to take from someone else their something that’s theirs.”
