Klobuchar: Putin Surprised By International Unity Against Him

WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin was caught off guard by the international coordination and strong sanctions leveled against his country, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in an interview Thursday.

"The fact that the world has come out so strongly, I don't think Putin anticipated that," Klobuchar told National Public Radio's Rachel Martin.

"What you're seeing now is a coordinated response which is going to hit him economically," she added. "This is a stronger world that has said enough is enough. And we simply cannot allow Putin to invade democracies around the world like this."

Klobuchar noted that the U.S., Europe, and other allies standing against Russia make up well over 50 percent world's GDP, which means coordinated sanctions can have a "major, major gut punch" against Putin and his oligarchs. "And so I just think minimizing the effects of these sanctions is a mistake."

Klobuchar and other Senate colleagues traveled to Ukraine in January to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a sovereign Ukraine.

Listen to Klobuchar's full interview with NPR here.

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