Ethiopia has rejected an effort by Moscow to avoid international aviation sanctions — imposed in retaliation for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — by leasing aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines.

In late July, Russian representatives met with the head of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and reportedly requested a leasing agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to operate Western-made aircraft under Ethiopian registration on Russian routes, with maintenance, crew and insurance to be provided by the African carrier.

On Tuesday, Ethiopian CEO Mesfin Tasew told local press he had “no intention” of leasing planes to Russian carriers for two main reasons: “We currently need more aircraft ourselves, so it is not the right time to lease out planes,” and “We comply with the laws of every country where we operate. Given our strong ties with the United States, we also respect American laws.”

A deal with Moscow would have exposed Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest airline, to accusations of circumventing Western sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Mesfin called the reports of an agreement “completely false.”

Yaroslav Tarasyuk, Russia’s trade representative in Ethiopia, reportedly attended a meeting with Yohannes Abera, the director general of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority, on July 29.

The Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia’s Ministry of Transport did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It’s not just about sanctions

Since it attacked Ukraine over three years ago, Russia has been cut off from new planes from Boeing and Airbus, as well as the parts necessary to maintain existing aircraft. The ban has thrown its aviation industry into turmoil.

“[Russia] committed body and soul to Western aviation — with airframes, engines etc. — 20 years ago, and its once large industry making aircraft also westernized, so the sanctions at the start of the Ukraine war were significant,” said Andrew Charlton, managing director of the Aviation Advocacy consultancy. 

Russia has been trying to patch together its existing fleet of Western airliners, but the sector’s problems are growing.

“Over time, there are only so many spare parts you can cannibalize from other aircraft and only so many spares you can make quickly,” Charlton said, referring to Moscow’s efforts to produce fake spare parts to keep its civil aviation fleet — which is partially made up of planes stolen from Western leasing companies when the war started — operational.

“Black-market and bootlegged spares are also much more expensive,” Charlton said.

Russia’s airports have also been plagued by stoppages caused by Ukrainian drone attacks, adding stress to the aviation system. On July 28, flag carrier Aeroflot was targeted by a cyberattack claimed by a pro-Ukraine hacking group, which led to the cancellation of dozens of flights.

This cocktail of problems and emergencies “leads to fatigue and desperation,” Charlton said.

“Add to that the fact that civil aviation is so very close to military aviation, in terms of operations, skills, parts etc., that even without escalation such as we have seen recently in attacking civilian targets, aviation must always assume the worst,” he added. 

In the first half of 2025 the number of passengers on Russian airlines dropped to nearly 50 million, down from over 51.1 million during the same period last year.

The passenger data was presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Transport Minister Roman Starovoit on July 3. Starovoit was fired four days later and was later found dead from a gunshot wound in his car.