US turns up heat on Chinese, Indian companies servicing Aeroflot

The US has stepped up the pressure on China and India for refusing to join Western sanctions against Moscow, threatening to punish businesses that provide service to Russian airlines flying to Beijing, Delhi and elsewhere. The Commerce Department last week updated a list of 153 planes operated by Russian and Belarusian companies -- nearly all made by Boeing -- that flew into those two countries without authorization from the US Washington says the flights violate sanctions restricting exports of American technology. "Maintaining this list reinforces to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his enablers that they are isolated from the world, and anyone who seeks to enable their aggression or flout our export controls does so at their own peril," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said. American export controls have an unusually wide reach. The Russia sanctions encompass not only carriers that fly US-made planes, but even companies in countries such as China or India that refuel, repair or service these aircraft with the knowledge that they are violating sanctions. The Commerce Department earlier this month suspended exports to Aeroflot and two other Russian airlines in response to ongoing sanctions violations. The move bars these carriers from receiving U.S. parts or services for their aircraft, without which the airlines will have difficulty operating. In the announcement, the department cited cities where the carriers have continued service to and from Moscow, including Beijing, Delhi, Dubai, Istanbul and the Turkish city of Antalya. While many countries have ended direct flights into and out of Russia, some Asian and Middle Eastern nations with close ties to Moscow have allowed service to continue. Washington's highly publicized enforcement measures aim to pressure the latter countries to sever those ties.<br/>