Sen. Mark Begich, in a letter written Friday, urged President Obama to reject calls for a boycott over the Snowden issue.

He asked Obama to react to strained U.S.-Russia relations with diplomatic efforts, “not a political gesture that would have the effect of further straining relations and damaging a symbol of international cooperation.”

The Winter Olympics have never been held in Russia, which last hosted an Olympics in 1980. Those were the Summer Olympics that the United States and 64 other nations boycotted because of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Four years later, the Soviets boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics.