Republican Lawmakers Oppose Russia Sanctions Waiver for Nuclear Projects

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged President Joe Biden this week to reject his administration’s proposal to waive sanctions to allow French company Électricité de France (EDF) to work with Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom.

The waiver would undermine efforts to reduce Western dependence on Russian energy and would give more money to Russian President Vladimir Putin “to fund his brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and suppression of democracy,” the lawmakers wrote in a May 6 letter to Biden.

During a recent briefing for staff from the two committees, the State Department failed to justify the proposal or explain how it would benefit the U.S. or promote U.S. strategy, the lawmakers said.

The waiver would allow EDF to acquire a subsidiary of a major U.S. company that suspended civil nuclear projects with Rosatom in Egypt, Hungary and Turkey due to sanctions, the letter says. EDF would provide turbines and related technology for the projects.

The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. The State Department declined to comment.