Russia threatens to hold hundreds of planes hostage despite sanctions Business

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Russia could ban its airlines from returning leased planes to their owners, stubbornly defying Western sanctions.

European leasing companies are facing a huge challenge trying to recover hundreds of planes after new measures against Vladimir Putin prevented them from doing business in the country.

But the Kremlin has released bills that would prevent carriers from returning planes. It would also force them to pay leases in rubles for the rest of the year.

Russia’s aviation industry has been brought to its knees by the sanctions, which also include sweeping airspace bans and exclusion from the London insurance market.

5 things to start your day

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2) Russian banks offer yuan accounts as Putin turns to China The fall of the ruble and Western sanctions encourage Russia to use Chinese currency

3) MoD signs contracts worth billions based on single bid £7.2bn of contracts were signed without any competitive process

4) Germany ‘combats efforts to block Sberbank’ Berlin faces accusations of pushing back on plans to block Russia from international payment system Swift

5) IMF approves $1.4 billion in ‘essential’ support for Ukraine Global lender warns of ‘already very serious’ consequences of war as 2m refugees flee country

What happened overnight

Asian stocks rallied on Thursday after a strong rebound on Wall Street and a stunning rally in Europe. Tokyo jumped 3.8%, while Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei climbed more than 2% each. Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Manila and Wellington are also up sharply.

coming today

• Business : Capita, Balfour Beatty, Hill & Smith Holdings, Just Group, National Express, Savills, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Spirent Communications, Volution Group (annual results); DS Smith (temporary)
• Economy: ECB decision on interest rates (EU)consumer price index (EU)Initial jobless claims (WE)monthly budget statement (WE)RICS house price equilibrium (UK)