Rep. Mike Turner Says Russia, Ukraine “getting Closer” To Peace Deal

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine are inching closer to a deal to end nearly four years of fighting as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Florida to meet with President Donald Trump.

Turner, who chaired the House Intelligence Committee from 2023-2025, said in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl that the U.S. must establish security guarantees for Ukraine in ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire deal.

“I think we're getting closer. I think that Zelenskyy is coming with a plan that is workable and that could get us there,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “And hopefully, with our allies in Europe that have come together … we can deter Russia in the future.”

Still, Turner said Moscow has yet to signal willingness to make concessions in negotiations to end the war.

Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday that he hoped to secure “legally binding security guarantees” in his Sunday afternoon meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago as Ukraine and the U.S. continue to discuss the details of a 20-point peace plan. The most recent draft maintains security guarantees for Ukraine that correspond with Article 5 of the NATO alliance, Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader also signaled that he would be open to withdrawing its troops from the eastern territories currently claimed by Russia as part of the latest draft of a peace plan negotiated between U.S. and Ukrainian officials — a reversal from his previous comments that he would not cede any territory to Moscow.

“In this peace process, as Russia wants Ukrainian concessions, 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. “And that's going to be difficult to give the type of assurances that the West is going to rise to the occasion to keep Russia from just reassembling and coming back stronger.”

Trump said on Friday that the peace plan is not yet finalized, telling POLITICO in an exclusive interview that Zelenskyy “doesn’t have anything until I approve it.” Still, he cast a hopeful tone in advance of the meeting, saying he thought “it’s going to go good with him.”

In a Sunday morning interview with Fox News’ Cheryl Casone, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said Trump was waiting for Zelenskyy to understand “that it's not likely that Ukraine's going to be made whole” and for Russian President Vladimir Putin to commit to considering an end to the war.

"We had to take a different approach. President Trump saw that, he's pivoted, and now his meeting with Zelenskyy is to say, ‘look, what is it out of the 20 points that you can live with and what is absolutely a nonstop?’” said Mullin, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “And I believe this is a good move towards, hopefully, ending the killing in Ukraine."