The US State Department demanded that the diamonds who obtained the status of “conflict” or “bloody” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, writes The New York Times.
In the UN documents of “conflicting” or “bloody”, those diamonds that have obtained in the areas of military conflicts are called. Funds from their sale are used to finance the rebels opposed to legal governments. To combat the sale of such precious stones, the UN established the certification scheme of the Kimberly process.
The US State Department, together with Ukraine, the European Union, Australia, Great Britain and Canada, sent a letter to the organization of the Kimberly process, where they asked to expand the concept of “conflict” diamonds in connection with the outbreak of war in Ukraine. “The income of diamond mining is beneficial to the same state that conducts a deliberate, unprovided and unjustified war,” the US letter said.
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At a meeting of the participants in the Kimberly process in June, Russia did not agree with a similar statement, because it is illegally according to the current documents. Her position was supported by Belarus, Tsar, Kyrgyzstan and Mali.
The proposal of Western countries did not vote, as this requires unanimous support.
Earlier, the United States banned the import of unprocessed diamonds from Russia and imposed sanctions on the Russian company Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond company. It accounts for 28% of the global production of diamonds and up to 90% of diamond mining in Russia.
However, even now Russian precious stones can enter the American market. For this, they must be processed in other countries, for example, in India.