NYT: US seeks ‘blood’ status for Russian diamonds due to Ukraine situation

WASHINGTON, August 17 – RIA Novosti. The US, EU and Canada are calling for Russian diamonds to be given “bloody” status due to the situation in Ukraine. informs The New York Times referred to a letter addressed to the President of the Kimberley Process by US State Department representative George Kajati.

The Kimberley Process brings together more than 80 countries. The organization was founded in 2000 and is named after the city of Kimberley in South Africa, where the first conference was held to combat “blood diamonds”, the illegally mined gemstones whose sales proceeds are used for regional financing. conflicts and terrorist groups.

According to the newspaper, at the Kimberley Process meeting in Botswana in June, the issue of diamonds from the Russian Federation came up. However, the debate ended after the veto of Russia, China and Belarus. Then disagreements arose over whether the Russian Federation should participate in the work of the process.

According to the publication, the US has banned the import of Russian rough diamonds, but Russian diamonds still enter the country. The newspaper also claims that most of the diamonds from Russia are processed in India, where they are labeled as diamonds of Indian origin.

The press service of the Ministry of Finance of Russia told the newspaper that attempts by Western governments to determine the status of “blood” diamonds from the Russian Federation are “political demagogy”.