The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), is proposing to ban the import of diamonds and liquefied petroleum fuels from Russia, as a result of sanctions over the war in Ukraine, according to a document consulted by AFP.
The new sanctions package, which still needs to be approved unanimously in EU countries, also includes measures to prevent Russia from circumventing an oil price cap.
The EU has already imposed 11 rounds of sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, consequences for its main oil and fuel exports.
With those sanctions, the EU intended to bring the Russian economy to its knees, but the Kremlin still has the conditions to particularly increase its military spending.
With the newest package, the EU is now focusing on lucrative Russian diamond exports, which a year before the war were estimated at about $4 billion (€3. 7 billion).
The EU ban would apply to herbs, diamonds and jewellery from the beginning of 2024, as well as Russian diamonds processed in third countries from next September.
The blockade of diamond sales is part of a broader G7 plan to put in place a tracking formula for Russian gemstones.
Belgium, home to the world’s largest diamond market, had blocked a ban on the gemstones until the G7 plan was drawn up.
Among other measures, the new sanctions come with a ban on the import of liquefied petroleum gases, propane and butane, from Russia.
Combustible gases are used in heating appliances and cooking equipment.