Grassley: 'I thought it would never happen'

ALBIA — It was only recently that U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley realized Russia may actually invade Ukraine.

"Until very recently, I thought it would never happen," Grassley told media after a town hall meeting in Albia on Thursday. "I thought maybe what people in Europe and America was doing to discourage him from doing it — and telling him what would happen if he did do it — that it just wouldn't happen."

Grassley pointed to past statements by Russia President Vladimir Putin about re-establishing the Soviet Union. Among other statements Putin has made, in 2005 he said the collapse of the Soviet Union was "a major geopolitical disaster of the [20th] century.”

Grassley spoke Thursday as Biden announced sanctions against Russia.

"I hope that they work, and I hope that it changes Putin's behavior," Grassley said. "But we won't know for a while."

Grassley acknowledged that sanctions and Russia's invasion of Ukraine will likely cause increased hardship on Americans, already facing higher prices at the pumps and rates of inflation the highest seen since the 1980s.

"We've already seen a big rise in the price of energy," Grassley said. "First of all, from the idiotic programs of this administration to cut down on the production of energy within America, but also made worse with what's going on in Ukraine."

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Ottumwa, joined two other reps with a bipartisan bill to sanction the Russia Parliament, particularly those who authorized the Kremlin's recognition of two Ukrainian regions as independent states.

“Putin and his cronies have shown no regard for international law and human life. They will stop at nothing to achieve their goal of destabilizing Ukraine, overthrowing the democratically elected government, and installing a Kremlin puppet in Kyiv,” said Miller-Meeks. “Imposing harsh sanctions on Russian officials who support Putin’s warmongering actions is a necessary step to hold Russia accountable. Moscow clearly has no desire to find diplomatic solutions to the current situation and we must react accordingly.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said the moment requires American strength and resolve, and that the Biden Administration shouldn't hold back in penalizing Russia and Putin.

"Putin deserves no grace," Ernst said. "He is slaughtering innocent people and attempting to overrun a sovereign, freedom-loving nation, and partner of the United States.

"The administration should not be holding back; our adversaries are certainly not. Kick Russia out of the SWIFT banking system, sanction Putin and his oligarch friends directly, and ensure that Ukraine has the lethal firepower necessary to win this fight. Anything less will not stop this autocratic thug."