U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) has urged the Biden administration to take immediate action to provide intelligence and weapons support to Ukraine amid concerns that Russia is planning additional incursions into Ukraine territory.
In a Nov. 5 letter to President Joe Biden led by Rep. Turner and signed by 14 of his Republican colleagues, the lawmakers wrote that Russia is massing a large military force of ground troops, armored vehicles, and tanks near the Ukraine border, according to open-source reporting.
“We urge your administration to take immediate and swift action to provide support to Ukraine in the form of intelligence and weapons. We also urge your administration to deploy a U.S. military presence in the Black Sea to deter a Russian invasion, the letter said.
Rep. Turner serves as the ranking member of both the U.S. House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee and the U.S. House Intelligence Subcommittee on Intelligence Modernization and Readiness. Among the lawmakers who signed the letter was U.S. Rep. Mike Rodgers (R-AL), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, and committee member U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE).
“Russia continues to undermine the international community. This most recent build-up at the Ukrainian border demonstrates Putin’s desire to weaken democracies and his disregard for NATO’s call for disarmament,” Rep. Turner said in a Nov. 8 statement. “The U.S. must remain committed to protecting the sovereignty and security of Ukraine as Russia continues to be a grave threat to their region,” he added.
While the letter noted that in September, the Biden administration committed $60 million in military aid to Ukraine, the lawmakers called for increasing lethal aid to Ukraine in order to deter a renewed Russian incursion.
Additionally, we urge you to immediately consider an appropriate U.S. military presence and posture in the region and to initiate appropriate intelligence sharing activities between the United States and Ukraine to prevent the situation from escalating further,” Turner and the members of Congress wrote.