Top Producer Russia Thwarts Move to Redefi ne 'Confl ict Diamonds'

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Top Producer Russia Thwarts Move to RedeÞ ne 'Conß ict Diamonds'

By Helen Reid

RUSSIA, SUPPORTED BY Belarus, Central African Republic, Kyrgyzstan and Mali, has torpedoed a Western-backed proposal to discuss whether its diamonds are funding war ahead of an international confl ict diamond meeting in Botswana, letters seen by Reuters show.

The rift in the Kimberley Process (KP), which certifi es rough diamond exports, risks paralyzing the body which makes decisions by consensus.

The letters, which have not been previously reported, show a dispute over a proposal by Ukraine, the European Union, Australia, Britain, Canada, and the United States to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine and whether to broaden the KP's defi nition of confl ict diamonds to include state actors at its June 20-24 meeting in Botswana.

The United States and Britain have already placed sanctions on Russia's Alrosa (ALRS.MM), the world's largest producer of rough diamonds, which accounted for around 30% of global output last year, and is partly state-owned. read more

A draft agenda dated May 20 included an hourlong slot to discuss the issue, but the item was removed after objections from Russia, Belarus, Central African Republic (CAR), Kyrgyzstan, and Mali. "We fi nd ourselves at an impasse," Botswana's KP chair Jacob Thamage told participants - who include 85 nations, industry representatives, and civil society organisations - in a June 9 letter urging them to fi nd common ground.

The KP defi nes confl ict diamonds as gems used to fund rebel movements seeking to undermine legitimate governments.

Offi cially labelling Russian diamonds

"confl ict diamonds" would require widening the defi nition. The KP Civil Society Coalition has been calling for such a change for years, along with some KP member countries.

The certifi cation scheme, designed to eliminate the trade in so-called "blood diamonds", was set up in 2003 in the wake of devastating civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, which were largely fi nanced by the illicit diamond trade.

Russia's KP delegate said in a May 20 letter that the situation in Ukraine has "no implications" for the Kimberley Process and is "absolutely beyond the scope" of its certifi cation scheme.

Belarus, CAR, Kyrgyzstan and Mali all similarly argued that the proposal was "political" or outside the scope of the KP, and that its inclusion on the agenda was inappropriate. All four countries have backed Russia in recent United Nations General Assembly votes.

War-torn CAR is the only country in the world currently under a partial KP embargo for rough diamond exports. Russia, with which it has close trade and security ties, has worked to lift those restrictions.

Mali also has close ties with Russia. Hundreds of Russian military contractors have deployed there since the beginning of this year to help the government fi ght insurgents. "If the Kimberley Process is to be a credible guarantor that diamonds exported with a KP certifi cate are actually confl ict-free, it cannot refuse to consider the valid questions that have been raised about whether rough diamonds exported by Russia are fi nancing its invasion of Ukraine," Canada's Ioanna Sahas Martin wrote to the KP chair earlier this month.

In a letter to the chair on Monday, Ukraine KP representative Andrii Tkalenko proposed two amendments to the certifi cation scheme: To widen the defi nition to include government actors, and

▲ Polished colorless and yellow diamonds produced at "Diamonds of ALROSA" factory in Moscow, Russia

April 30, 2021. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva/File Photo

◄ A rough diamond, from the Boda region, is displayed for sale in Bangui May 1, 2014.

REUTERS/Emmanuel Braun/File Photo to allow KP countries, by a majority vote, to expel a country that infringes on another KP member's sovereignty.

Britain, the European Union and the United States also said Russia should step down from the KP committees it currently chairs. read more "Inaction would undermine the credibility and integrity of the Kimberley Process not only as a confl ict prevention mechanism but also as a trade regulation mechanism," the European Commission's Marika Lautso-Mousnier said in a letter.