Belarus Says U.S. Cleared Boeing to Supply Parts and Software to Belavia

Belavia, Belarus’s national carrier, says a U.S. Commerce Department license now lets Boeing deal with it directly, covering spare parts, components and software for its current fleet. The claim comes only from Belarusian officials.

As of Nov. 3, the Commerce Department, the State Department and Boeing have not publicly confirmed the license, and its text and conditions have not been released. Export licenses are confidential under U.S. law.

What Minsk Is Saying

Belavia Chief Executive Igor Cherginets announced the permission to Belarus’s state news agency BelTA on Oct. 31. “This will allow Belavia to directly obtain spare parts, components and software for the aircraft currently operated by the airline,” he said, as translated by Reform.news.

He added that it “opens the way for negotiations on purchasing aircraft directly from Boeing Corporation.” No aircraft order has been announced. Cherginets also said the U.S. Treasury Department had earlier issued a similar authorization.

Valentin Rybakov, Belarus’s permanent representative to the United Nations, gave a similar account on state television. “On October 30th, another positive step was taken when the US Department of Commerce granted Boeing permission and a license to work with Belavia,” he said, according to the state outlet SB.by. Cherginets had described the permit as issued on Oct. 31, so the two officials gave different dates.

Belavia’s press service told the Russian news agency Interfax the easing followed regular talks between Lukashenko’s government and White House representatives.

Issues Still Open

Rybakov said only a few issues remain before the two sides can move to a new level of cooperation. On Oct. 22, he said the outstanding matters related to banking operations. That is why Minsk has not described the license as the end of the process.

A Thaw Built on Prisoner Releases

The license is the latest step in a U.S.–Belarus rapprochement tied to prisoner releases. In September 2025, Belarus freed 52 prisoners and Washington eased sanctions on Belavia. In November 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department lifted its measures against the airline, Reuters reported.

Letters from Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security in September, October and November 2025 had already allowed Belavia to operate and service nine named Boeing aircraft. The November letter does not authorize exports to Russia or Belarus. The bureau said it would review license applications case by case “to guard against the risk of diversion to other unsupported end-uses or end-users.”

AeroTime wrote that the latest move will raise concerns that it “will allow for Boeing parts and components to be transported on to Russia.” Russian carriers are short of parts, and Clash Report has reported that 130 of the 673 aircraft at Russia’s 11 largest airlines were out of service in October.

Wider Easing

Washington has also eased sanctions on Belarusian potash. On Oct. 21, the U.S. delisted Andrei Rybakov, chief executive of Belaruskali. Belarus released 25 more prisoners in September 2026. POLITICO reported in late October that the Trump administration is pressing Lithuania to ease EU sanctions on Belarusian potash exports.

Lukashenko addressed the arrangement on Oct. 22. “For our part, we are faithfully honoring what we promised the Americans,” he said.

EU Restrictions Stay

EU sanctions on Belavia remain in force, as does the bloc’s airspace ban on Belarusian carriers. The EU’s Belarus sanctions regime runs to Feb. 28, 2027. A U.S. license changes nothing in EU rules.