EU focuses on Russian diamond ban in latest sanctions package
Bloc to press ahead with further penalties, covering about 1,800 individuals and entities, after receiving G7 go-ahead
08 November 2023 - 18:54
byJan Strupczewski and Julia Payne
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An employee sorts rough diamonds at a sorting centre in Moscow, Russia. File photo: REUTERS
EU countries will start debating a proposal next week for a 12th package of sanctions on Russia that will focus on a ban of Russian diamonds, EU diplomats and an EU official said.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, EU countries have already applied 11 packages of sanctions against the Kremlin to diminish its ability to finance the war. The measures span sectors and include about 1,800 individuals and entities.
But so far, the EU hasn’t sanctioned Russian state-owned diamond miner Alrosa, even though major Western jewellers are already boycotting stones from Russia.
The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the bloc received the go-ahead for diamonds from the G7 the US, Canada, Britain, Japan, France, Germany and Italy — at meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in Japan.
EU diplomats said the 27-nation bloc had been waiting for a G7 green light to move ahead with the diamond ban. An EU official said the timing for a European Commission proposal for the package, that would then be debated by the EU’s 27 governments, was “early next week”.
“The plan is that the commission adopts the package in the coming days. Then it’ll be for council to adopt,” one EU official said, adding the discussions among governments would start next week.
The G7 has been debating various proposals since September on how best to track the Russian gems so as to block imports. An official G7 announcement, expected since last month, has been held up by a debate over whether to make a political announcement before the technical details were fully hashed out.
The proposal, drawn up by Belgium at the EU’s request, is expected to be mirrored closely in the commission’s sanctions draft proposal, one of the diplomats said.
Poland pushed for bans on diamonds and liquefied petroleum gas in September, while Estonia has asked for liquefied natural gas to be included too, though there is little appetite in the EU to make new waves in the volatile gas market.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said the bloc would look at banning Russian diamonds, freezing assets and imposing travel restrictions on a further 100 people, and at tightening the implementation of the G7’s $60/barrel price cap on Russian oil
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
EU focuses on Russian diamond ban in latest sanctions package
Bloc to press ahead with further penalties, covering about 1,800 individuals and entities, after receiving G7 go-ahead
EU countries will start debating a proposal next week for a 12th package of sanctions on Russia that will focus on a ban of Russian diamonds, EU diplomats and an EU official said.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, EU countries have already applied 11 packages of sanctions against the Kremlin to diminish its ability to finance the war. The measures span sectors and include about 1,800 individuals and entities.
But so far, the EU hasn’t sanctioned Russian state-owned diamond miner Alrosa, even though major Western jewellers are already boycotting stones from Russia.
The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the bloc received the go-ahead for diamonds from the G7 the US, Canada, Britain, Japan, France, Germany and Italy — at meeting of the group’s foreign ministers in Japan.
EU diplomats said the 27-nation bloc had been waiting for a G7 green light to move ahead with the diamond ban. An EU official said the timing for a European Commission proposal for the package, that would then be debated by the EU’s 27 governments, was “early next week”.
“The plan is that the commission adopts the package in the coming days. Then it’ll be for council to adopt,” one EU official said, adding the discussions among governments would start next week.
The G7 has been debating various proposals since September on how best to track the Russian gems so as to block imports. An official G7 announcement, expected since last month, has been held up by a debate over whether to make a political announcement before the technical details were fully hashed out.
The proposal, drawn up by Belgium at the EU’s request, is expected to be mirrored closely in the commission’s sanctions draft proposal, one of the diplomats said.
Poland pushed for bans on diamonds and liquefied petroleum gas in September, while Estonia has asked for liquefied natural gas to be included too, though there is little appetite in the EU to make new waves in the volatile gas market.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said the bloc would look at banning Russian diamonds, freezing assets and imposing travel restrictions on a further 100 people, and at tightening the implementation of the G7’s $60/barrel price cap on Russian oil
Reuters
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