Next week, the European Union intends to introduce another package of sanctions against Russia, which will include a long-term ban on Russian diamonds.
The Financial Times reports this with reference to a statement by EU Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.
Diamonds are one of the few major Russian exports that have so far remained unaffected by EU sanctions imposed in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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Borrell, in a comment to the publication, said that the G7 foreign ministers, during a two-day meeting in Japan, supported this move, overcoming an important obstacle that was demanded by European countries, in particular Belgium, one of the world's largest diamond traders.
— In order for the EU member states to be unanimous on the issue of banning the diamond trade, some of them demanded that the G7 provide, so to speak, political support. Well, this has been done, the coordination has worked, and we will be able to submit a package of sanctions for consideration,” Borrell said.
Ukraine and several Central and Eastern European allies have long pressed the EU to ban the diamond trade . In May, G7 leaders agreed to restrict the trade and use of Russian diamonds, particularly through tracking technologies.
But efforts to introduce EU legal measures have stalled as Belgium has argued that a simple ban on Russian stones would only divert trade away from its city of Antwerp, a global diamond trading hub.
Belgian officials called on the G7 to fully support an agreement that would introduce a global diamond certification standard that would allow all traders to identify gems produced in Russia.
Borrell said the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US had agreed to “reduce the income that Russia receives from exports” and pointed directly to “non-industrial diamonds, in particular those that are mined.”
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At the end of October, Bloomberg reported that the new EU sanctions package against Russia may include restrictions on trade in goods whose total value reaches about €5 billion.
