Russia has reportedly requested that the United States allow it to purchase Boeing aircraft using part of its frozen assets in the West, sources familiar with the matter said.
The proposal, first reported by Bloomberg, comes as Chinese regulators on Wednesday ordered national airlines to halt new purchases of American-made jets in the latest development of a tariff escalation with the Trump administration.
While not directly tied to ceasefire negotiations, Russia’s request is seen as part of broader discussions on sanctions relief in the event of a truce in Ukraine. During the same backchannel communications, Russian officials also suggested that Washington lift sanctions on state carrier Aeroflot and allow the resumption of direct flights between the two countries, which have been suspended since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
About $280 billion in Russian financial and real estate assets remain frozen across the G7, most of them in Europe. U.S. institutions are believed to control around $5 billion.
Although the proposal is informal, both Washington and Moscow appear to agree that any potential deal would depend on progress toward stabilizing the war in Ukraine. “The U.S. will not discuss any economic commitments until a ceasefire has been reached,” Brian Hughes, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said in response to questions about Russia’s reported interest in purchasing Boeing aircraft.
Still, the idea may hold strategic value for both sides. For Boeing, struggling with the fallout of China’s boycott, a deal could help cushion losses. For Russia, access to U.S. aircraft would provide critical support to its airlines, many of which rely on Western-built fleets. According to business outlet RBC, as of early 2024, Russian carriers were still operating at least 165 aircraft made by Boeing or its European rival Airbus — about 40% of the national fleet and over half of all passenger planes currently in service.
Boeing and Airbus exited the Russian market in 2022, forcing carriers to either restore aging Soviet-era planes or seek maintenance support from allied countries like Iran. In the immediate aftermath of the war’s outbreak, Moscow seized 400 foreign-leased planes and later allocated 300 billion rubles — around $4 billion — to formally acquire them and settle legal claims.
Before the war, Russia was a major market for Boeing. The Virginia-based aerospace giant not only sold jets but operated a cutting-edge design center on Moscow’s southern outskirts and sourced nearly one-third of its titanium from Russian suppliers.
Earlier this month, Russian Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov described as “important” a possible U.S. greenlight to release $500 million worth of spare parts for jets that, he said, Russian airlines had paid for prior to sanctions.
Yet virtually all discussions hinge on developments in Ukraine. Last Friday in St. Petersburg, Russian sovereign wealth fund chief Kirill Dmitriev met for nearly five hours with Steve Witkoff, special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump. Witkoff told Fox News the talks produced “an understanding of what Putin considers essential for lasting peace.”
Moscow, however, struck a more cautious tone. “This is such a complex issue that it’s hard to expect immediate results,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was more blunt: “There is no agreement on the fundamentals. Our demands are not negotiation points — they are conditions.”
Russian intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin reiterated Tuesday that Moscow’s goals remain unchanged. That is, Ukrainian neutrality, a non-nuclear military status, and what he called the “denazification” of the Ukrainian state.
Russia has consistently insisted that any settlement must address its strategic interests and “security concerns.” These include recognition of its sovereignty over four partially occupied Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — unilaterally annexed in 2022, along with Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014. The Kremlin is also demanding that Kyiv formally abandon its NATO ambitions and significantly scale down its armed forces.
On the ground, a partial moratorium on attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, announced last month, appears to be nearing its expiration. Moscow claims the truce began on March 18 and will expire this Friday. Kyiv, however, insists it started on March 25 and has accused Russia of repeated violations, citing recent strikes on power grids in Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson and Kryvyi Rih.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities say Sunday’s Russian missile strike on Sumy killed at least 35 people and injured more than 100. On Monday, President Trump called the “horrific” attack a “mistake” by Putin and once again controversially blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war.
According to the most recent U.N. figures, more than 12,340 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
