Russia Fights Efforts to Declare It an Exporter of ‘Blood Diamonds’ & More Latest News Here – Up Jobs

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to global soul-searching about overreliance on Russian oil and gas, but a new drama is unfolding over another of Russia’s major exports: diamonds.

Russia is the world’s largest supplier of small diamonds. For years, engagement rings, earrings and pendants for sale in the United States and beyond have included diamonds mined from deep in the permafrost in Russia’s northeast.

Now, the United States and other countries are taking action that could officially label Russian diamonds as “conflict diamonds,” claiming their sale helps pay for Russia’s deadly aggression in Ukraine.

“Proceeds from that production are benefiting the same state that is conducting a premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war,” said George Cajati, a U.S. State Department official, in a letter written in May to the chair of the Kimberley Process, an international organization created by United Nations resolution to prevent the flow of conflict diamonds.

The European Union, Canada and other Western nations, as well as Ukraine and several activist organizations, have joined in similar calls for a Kimberley Process discussion about the implications of the invasion of Ukraine, including whether Russian gems should be considered conflict diamonds.

Also known as blood diamonds, conflict diamonds are commonly thought of as gems sold to finance war. The Kimberley Process, created in the wake of diamonds financing a deadly war in Sierra Leone and elsewhere, defines them more specifically, as “rough diamonds used by rebel movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining legitimate governments.”

But “rebel movement” doesn’t accurately describe Russia, and officials there vehemently object to labeling the nation’s diamonds as conflict gems. They chalk up the effort by Western governments to do so as “political demagogy,” according to an emailed statement from the press service of Russia’s Ministry of Finance.

The issue is coming into sharper focus as Western nations outraged by Russia’s actions in Ukraine restrict Russian gas and look for long-term alternatives to their reliance on its fossil fuels. Revenues from Russia’s other big exports, such as diamonds, have gained new global relevance both for Russia as well as for countries looking to punish the nation for its actions in Ukraine.

The gems are one of Russia’s top non-energy exports by value, accounting for more than $4.5 billion of exports last year, according to U.S. government data.

Russian diamonds have for years been popular with American jewelers weary of the taint of diamonds from African mines — even those far from conflict areas — that consumers could confuse for blood diamonds. But the debate over Russian diamonds is exposing an often-overlooked reality about the effort to rein in the murky $80 billion global diamond industry, which commercializes the deepest of emotions and has spent years working to reassure people that its gems are trustworthy through Kimberley Process certification.

Because of loopholes and technicalities, so-called ethical diamonds don’t really exist, many jewelers acknowledge. And the effort to block Russian diamonds underscores that fact. “We use the Kimberley Process as the greatest greenwashing machine the world has ever seen,” said Martin Rapaport, a leading diamond broker whose price list is used as a benchmark for the wholesale trade in polished diamonds.

For Russia’s part, its officials say the country’s diamonds were in line with environmental, social and governance standards long before they became fashionable in the corporate world. They say Russian mines contribute to the economy of Yakutia, a desolate area of the country’s Far East.

Diamond proceeds have paved roads, built schools and hospitals, Russia’s finance ministry said in an email, adding that payments are also made to institutional and private investors. “The livelihoods of one million people of Yakutia fully depend on the stability of diamond mining in the region,” the ministry said.