Rep. Mike Turner says “you can’t be America first and pro-Russia” as negotiators seek to broker end to war in Ukraine

Washington — GOP Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio expressed concern Sunday that the White House-backed proposed plan to end the war in Ukraine is too pro-Russia, while urging that any peace arrangement must look at Russia as a “skeptical adversary.”

Turner said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the president’s “goal of peace is incredibly important,” while acknowledging comments made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s supporting a sovereign Ukraine as negotiators gathered in Miami on Sunday morning. 

The team of Ukrainian negotiators began meeting Sunday morning with Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law. Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow later this week.

As the meeting kicked off Sunday, Rubio outlined that “the end goal is obviously not just the end of the war,” but also “securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity at real prosperity.” 

Rubio’s comments come after the White House floated a peace proposal earlier this month that critics said favored Russia, initially including several provisions that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had rejected in the past. But the plan has since been revised, Mr. Trump has outlined, citing progress on both sides. 

Asked by CBS’ chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes whether he still has concerns about the plan being too pro-Russia, Turner, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee and formerly chaired the House Intelligence Committee, said “I think we all have those concerns.” But he added, “one thing that I think everybody understands is that you can’t have, you can’t be America first and pro-Russia, because Russia is a self-declared adversary of the United States.”

“It’s fielding new, advanced nuclear weapons that are specifically targeting the United States, it’s constantly attacking the United States with offensive cyber, it continuously identifies both NATO and the west, the United States, as its adversary,” Turner said. “You have to understand that the balance of this peace arrangement has to be one where you have to look at Russia as a skeptical adversary.”

Asked about a transcript of a call published by Bloomberg in which Witkoff appeared to be coaching a Kremlin aide on how to negotiate with President Trump, Turner said “the part that concerned me most is that there appeared to be an orchestration of giving Putin an opportunity to speak to Trump before President Zelenskyy was on his way to the White House.”

Turner said “this is not a military against military action, they are bombing into Ukraine and murderously killing civilians in Ukraine.”

“The Ukrainian people are being subjected to this, and President Trump needs to be able to hear Zelenskyy’s voice clearly, and not just the authoritarian, murderous Putin,” Turner added. 

As for Witkoff, Turner said “I think you can’t take just one slice of someone’s conversation during the long, stretched out aspects of negotiations as reflective. But I think it’s certainly important that when we do get that opportunity, that our voices are heard of caution and concern.”

“The orchestration of inserting Putin’s voice before Zelenskyy’s is very concerning,” Turner said. “Because Ukraine’s sovereignty and security needs to be preeminent. And we heard that this morning from Rubio, and that needs to be the focus.”

On Sunday afternoon, Rubio called the day’s meeting “another very productive session,” reiterating the intention to end the war while also working to “help Ukraine be safe forever.” He called it a “shared vision.”

“But there’s more work to be done,” Rubio said after the meeting. “This is delicate, it’s complicated, there are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow.”