April 12 Reuters Airbus urged Europe on Tuesday not to block imports of titanium from Russia, saying sanctions on the strategic metal would damage aerospace while barely hurting Russia39;s economy.

Widening the action taken after Russia39;s invasion of Ukraine to titanium, used in airplanes and jet engines, would not be appropriate, Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said at an annual shareholder meeting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly called on Western governments to impose stronger economic sanctions on Russia.

The European Union said on Monday more sanctions were an option and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday Kyiv39;s allies would continue to tighten pressure on Moscow.

Russia is the largest producer of titanium, a strategic metal prized for its strength relative to its weight.

The EU has so far avoided banning Russian commodities other than steel and coal, and titanium remains exempt from restrictions on trade with Russia.

Airbus is applying and will continue to apply the sanctions fully, a company spokesperson said.

Sanctions on Russian titanium would hardly harm Russia, because they only account for a small part of export revenues there. But they would massively damage the entire aerospace industry across Europe, the spokesperson added.

Airbus is accelerating a search for nonRussian supplies in the long term, while its needs are covered in the short and medium term, Faury said.

In March, Airbus said it is directly…