Weapons sales from one country to another are often a useful indicator of positive geopolitical ties between those two nations. The logic behind this is that nations won't export weapons to other countries which visibly seek to compete with them militarily. For example, European NATO states make extensive purchases of American weapons due to the United States's dominant position in the alliance. Likewise, Russian-allied countries such as Belarus and Kazakhstan rely heavily on weapons imports from Russia to maintain their armed forces.

In the context of Russian-American relations, Russia purchasing American weapons systems would indicate the United States' strategic interests aligning more with those of Russia than they currently do, and vice versa. Moreover, it would indicate improvements in geopolitical ties between these two countries. This could occur as a result of changes in the political landscape of either country, external threats posed to both nations, or a number of other things.