The sanctions package, which must be unanimously approved by European Union (EU) countries, also includes measures aimed at preventing Moscow from circumventing oil price restrictions.
Since Russia’s repeated invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has already applied 11 rounds of sanctions to Russia.
Sanctions have crippled Russia’s economy, but the Kremlin still manages to significantly increase its military spending.
The latest measures are designed to further reduce Russia’s income by targeting its lucrative diamond exports, which before the war were worth around 3.7 billion euros a year.
The EU ban will apply to natural and synthetic diamonds and jewelery from the beginning of 2024 and to Russian diamonds processed in third countries from September next year.
The diamond ban is part of a wider G7 scheme to create a system to track Russian gems.
EU member Belgium, home to the world’s largest diamond trading market, long blocked a ban on the gems until the G7 plan was put in place, fearing the moves would simply be taken elsewhere.
Among other things, the new sanctions are intended to ban the import of liquefied petroleum gases propane and butane from Russia.
2023-11-15 16:02:00
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