Ukraine war: Russian diamonds set for ban under new EU sanctions

Oh no, not the worthless shiny rocks!

Now do Israeli products.

I thought diamonds for industrial applications are nowadays all synthetic? So does this mostly affect jewellery?

Does anyone have some insights here on the state of natural/synthetic diamonds?

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Now the European Commission has proposed extending to diamonds a series of sanctions imposed on Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The EU has until now avoided a ban, largely because Belgium has been keen to protect the city of Antwerp: the diamond capital of the world.

In a corner of his office, Thierry opens a safe of colossal proportions and takes out a small white envelope, folded in half.

"There is a direct link between buying Russian diamonds and financing the war in Ukraine," says Filip Reyniers, director of IPIS - a research institute based in Antwerp.

He stopped importing Russian gemstones within a few weeks of the Ukraine invasion - which has resulted in higher costs for his business - and he believes the rest of the industry should have taken a firmer stance.

"Russian diamonds have come to symbolise war and human rights violations," said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in September.

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