Europe is going to limit the import of Russian diamonds. Russia can finance the war in Ukraine with the diamonds. Earlier attempts to keep the diamonds out met with resistance from Belgium. Now the EU is going to take steps, says Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
The EU and other members of the G7 (six largest Western economies and Japan) are working on new sanctions packages against Russia during a three-day meeting in Japan.
The British are taking the strictest measures. They stop importing Russian diamonds, copper, aluminum and nickel. The EU opts for a slightly more complex approach.
Since the war in Ukraine, there has been much talk in Europe of a boycott of Russian diamonds. The Russians would earn 4 billion euros annually from this. Belgium (with Antwerp as the capital of the global diamond trade) was opposed for a long time, with the position that a ban on Russian diamonds would not make any difference.
Tracing Russian diamonds
After polishing in another country, the diamonds would still end up with European consumers in a detour. The Belgians therefore advocated making the origin of diamonds more traceable.
Europe will now also work out that plan together with the G7, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, announced in Hiroshima on Friday. “We are going to severely limit the trade in Russian diamonds. The Russian diamond is not forever,” said Michel, referring to the James Bond movie from the 1970s.
Diamond is polished in India
Michel did not say exactly what the plan looks like. He also avoided questions about Belgian support. He did say that the talks at the G7 focus on closing Russian shortcuts. For this, the G7 must also aim its arrows at countries outside this group. Like India, where 90 percent of the world’s traded diamonds are polished.
Earlier this week, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell called in an interview with the Financial Times to limit imports of kerosene and diesel from India, which are increasingly produced from Russian oil.
2023-05-19 07:39:14
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