WorldAPR 16, 2025
Russia Seeks Sanctions Loophole with Boeing Offer After China Halts Massive Deal
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Russia is reportedly requesting permission from the U.S. to buy Boeing Co. aircraft using billions of dollars of frozen state assets.
A source in Moscow told Bloomberg that Russia wants to use the assets to purchase the jets when there is a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Although this is not a specific condition of agreeing to a ceasefire, it is understood Russia cannot use the frozen funds until there is one, the source added.
Russia reportedly wants to use frozen assets to buy Boeing jets, but the U.S. will not commit until there is a ceasefire in Ukraine
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
“The United States will not discuss any economic commitments until a ceasefire is reached,” Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, was quoted as saying by Ukraine Today.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Boeing shut down operations in the country.
The U.S. and its allies have blocked $300-$350 billion of sovereign Russian assets since the start of the war, according to Reuters. Most of the frozen assets are located in Europe.
Last month, sources told Reuters that Russia could agree to conceding assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine but would insist that some of the money went to parts of the country controlled by Russian forces.
The prospect of renewed Boeing sales in Russia comes amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariff war.
Image credits: Yi Zhong / Unsplash
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that China had ordered its airlines to stop accepting deliveries of Boeing jets in response to Trump’s 145% trade tariff.
Between now and 2027, the three main Chinese airlines—Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airline—were expected to receive 179 Boeing planes.
The deal was worth billions of dollars.
Chinese carriers were also told to stop buying aircraft-related parts and equipment from US companies, Bloomberg reported.
Boeing stock prices dropped 2.4% following the report.
Russia’s interest in Boeing jets comes amid the trade war between China and the U.S.
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It is the latest blow for Boeing after experiencing years of consecutive loss. In 2024, it reported a loss of $11.8 million.
The company, which primarily manufactures in Washington state and California, has not reported an annual profit since 2018.
In the past six years, Boeing has racked up a total operating loss of $51 billion.
Over the past five years, China had already cut Boeing deliveries by 84% compared with the five years before, The Wall Street Journal reported.
After two crashes in 2018 and 2019, China halted Boeing deliveries but had started to receive planes again last summer.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said China “just reneged on the big Boeing deal,” saying that they will “not take possession” of aircraft.
China has responded to Trump’s tariffs by placing a 125% tariff on all imports from the U.S.
Last month, Trump awarded Boeing a multi-billion dollar contract to build for the Next Generation Air Dominance initiative, which will include the U.S. Air Force’s most advanced fighter jet yet, the F-47.