France seeks oil independence from Russia with sanctions-hit Venezuela and Iran

The government of France is aiming for Iran and Venezuela to have an opportunity to play their hand in the oil market again, amidst sanctions, Reuters reported Monday morning.

The French government’s hopes come amidst the continued the Kremlin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine which has caused a shortage or energy options and a spike in prices, French executive officials said on Monday.

Paris is also seeking a way to cap oil costs so it has more options and is not reliant on Russian energy and resources.

The French official also said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told heads of state at the G7 conference on Monday morning that they still lack the leverage to negotiate with Russia and want to be in a more strategically advantageous position before bargaining with Moscow.

U.S. President Joe Biden has also discussed utilizing the two sanction-hit countries, which are considered rogue states by the U.S. Department of State.

Both countries have been criticized for their poor record on human rights and operations against the West.

Several Congressional Republicans have suggested that Democratic and foreign support for utilizing Venezuelan and Iranian oil is merely a way of helping the Biden administration justify U.S. negotiations with Caracas and Tehran instead of utilizing gas and oil companies in the United States.

In March, Sen. Marco Rubio introduced legislation that would prohibit U.S. oil negotiations with either country.

“The United States is blessed to have a plentiful supply of oil and natural gas — we should be using it,” Rubio said when he introduced the legislation in Marc.

“American-produced energy is cleaner and provides good jobs for American workers, yet the Biden Administration would rather appease dictatorships in Iran and Venezuela in return for bad deals and false promises. Under no circumstance should we be funneling money into the hands of dictators and narco-terrorists who are also allies of Vladimir Putin. Enough is enough — it’s time to bring energy production back home.”

Fellow Republican Sens. (R-FL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Steve Daines (R-MT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Hoeven (R-ND), Rick Scott (R-FL), and James Lankford (R-OK) also signed on to the legislation.