2023-12-15 01:18:39
Brussels is not loosening its grip on Moscow. The European Union has approved a new package of sanctions against Russia, which notably includes a ban on imports of Russian diamonds into the EU, a statement from the Twenty-Seven said on Thursday.
European leaders, meeting at a summit in Brussels, welcomed the adoption of this new package, the 12th since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The EU will also take measures to improve the effectiveness of sanctions on Russian oil.
Moscow is accused of financing part of its war against Ukraine through the lucrative diamond trade, which represents a turnover of around four to five billion dollars per year. The EU ban will affect natural or synthetic diamonds and jewelry from January, and Russian diamonds cut in other countries from September 2024.
Import of Russian oil
Belgium has lifted its reservations about these sanctions, decided by the G7 countries, and proposed solutions, in particular through a tracking system to make them effective without penalizing its own industry, flourishing in Antwerp (north-west) .
The EU is also seeking to better enforce sanctions targeting Russian oil. Western countries had decided to ban all imports of Russian oil above a price set at $60 per barrel. Russia, however, managed to circumvent this measure, by developing a “ghost” fleet of tankers and also thanks to the help of China and India, Carnegie researcher Alexandra Prokopenko recently noted.
The Twenty-Seven also decided to extend these oil sanctions to LPG, liquefied petroleum gas, butane and propane, used in particular for heating.
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