China has refused to supply Russia with aircraft parts after the aviation sector was hit by crippling Western sanctions, a Moscow official has admitted.
Valery Kudinov, a federal air transport agency official, said Russia would be looking for opportunities to source parts from other countries including Turkey and India, according to Russian news agencies.
Kudinov, who is responsible for maintaining airplane airworthiness, was quoted as saying the change in tact came after a failed bid to obtain aircraft parts from China, which has previously voiced concerns about sanctions on Russia.
China’s apparent refusal to supply parts for Russia could be a sign of another crack in support for Putin in Beijing, after it said the invasion was ‘deeply worrying’ and that it would take a lead in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
But the Communist country continues to avoid taking a side due to diplomatic ties and it is yet to condemn the invasion, while China also blamed NATO and the US for pushing Russia to ‘breaking point’.
Russia’s aviation sector has come under Western sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s ruthless invasion of Ukraine, with Boeing and Airbus both halting the supply of components.
Russia’s foreign ministry warned this week that the safety of Russian passenger flights was under threat amid the crippling sanctions, which has also seen the country’s banks and oligarchs targeted.
Kudinov said Russian companies are now registering their planes in Russia after the US and European Union’s sanctions, whereas many of the aircrafts had previously been registered abroad.
The Rosaviatsia official said he expects some other airplanes to be returned to leasing companies, as Moscow continues to feel the strain of the harsh sanctions, with UK foreign secretary Liz Truss warning that they would ‘choke off funds to [Putin’s] brutal war machine’. dailymail.co.uk
