Belarusian Regime Assists Russia In Disrupting Negotiations On ‘Blood’ Diamonds

Two more countries helped the Kremlin.

The position taken by Belarus and three other states on the issue of “conflict” or “blood” diamonds led to a crisis at the plenary meeting of the Kimberley Process in Zimbabwe. The meeting was convened to prevent Russia from financing the war against Ukraine using funds received from the sale of diamonds. But the Russian Federation and several of its allies, including our country, managed to bring the negotiations to a dead end.

The Kimberley Process meeting in Zimbabwe ended inconclusively, Jeweller reports.

Participants were unable to agree on the definition of “conflict” or “blood” diamonds. The Kimberley Process currently defines blood diamonds as “diamonds whose sales are used to finance rebel groups.” The litigants sought to expand this definition to include “rough diamonds used to finance wars against governments.”

If the proposal was accepted, the restrictions would also include rough diamonds mined in Russia, the proceeds from the sale of which the Russian authorities use, among other things, to finance the war against Ukraine.

However, Russia predictably opposed it. It was supported by Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and the Central African Republic. Representatives of these countries argued that the proposal was politically motivated, and its discussion was outside the scope of the Kimberley Process.

According to IDEX, after a week of debate, the final communique was announced 12 hours later than expected. As a result, the parties were unable to come to an agreed solution.

Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition Coordinator Michel Yobue issued a statement expressing disappointment at the lack of progress in the negotiations.

“We are relentless in our efforts to break the link between diamonds and conflict. We want to see action, but we can’t even agree on mere words,” he said.

In his opinion, the plenary meeting was unable to “even note the simple fact that it received a letter from Ukraine about the role of diamonds in financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.”

“We can no longer see this sad spectacle that continues to undermine the responsible management of diamonds,” Yobue said. “We can only hope that a good crisis will serve as catharsis and finally bring some meaning to this stalled process,” he added.

The Kimberley Process was founded in 2003 and has 85 participants, including representatives from industry and civil society organizations.