Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Wednesday that Brussels intended to become West's "leading partner" in stemming Russia's revenues from the diamond trade, which might allegedly affect the financing of Moscow's special operation in Ukraine
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2023) Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Wednesday that Brussels intended to become West's "leading partner" in stemming Russia's revenues from the diamond trade, which might allegedly affect the financing of Moscow's special operation in Ukraine.
"We want to carve out Russian diamonds from western markets. But we won't achieve this with the existing direct bans of Russian diamonds. They haven't had any meaningful impact on the financial flows for Russia's war machine," De Croo told the Financial Times.
The Belgian prime minister also reportedly said that tracing the flow of gemstones on the international market might "prevent Russian diamonds from getting relabelled in third countries" and circumventing sanctions.
"Real impact can only be achieved when we combine a direct and an indirect ban against Russian-mined diamonds," De Croo was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
In April, Vipul Shah, the chairman of the Indian Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said that the G7 countries might impose sanctions on diamonds of one carat or more mined by Russian diamond company Alrosa. Media reported that the new sanctions might be adopted during the G7 summit scheduled to be held in Japan's Hiroshima from May 19-21.
If the new sanctions go into effect, uncertainty will reportedly hang over the employment of almost three million workers in the Indian city of Surat, where the vast majority of the world's diamonds are cut and polished. As of now, India is free to export rough gemstones coming from Russia to the United States and other G7 countries if they undergo significant transformation in the Indian diamond cutting and polishing industry.
