This is a real “diamond war”, which is being waged in the shadow of the conflict in Ukraine and crosses at least three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa, writes Il Messaggero, which is quoted by Rador Radio Romania.

The European Union is preparing to ask G7 leaders to ban Russian diamonds, effectively imposing sanctions on the rough and uncut stone that floods the world market and comes from the mines of the federation, the world’s biggest supplier.

“We are talking about restructuring the world market by removing Russian diamonds from the G7 market,” an anonymous Belgian source told the Times of London.

The G7 alone is worth 70% of the total diamond market, which equates to €77 billion a year. Russia’s state-owned mining company Alrosa alone supplies a third of all diamonds in the world, with revenues for the Kremlin amounting to €3 billion a year, which go to pay for the continuation of the war.

The problem is how the ban can be enforced

On the one hand, Belgium, historically a key market with the most important diamond trading center Antwerp, and obviously the EU, are in line for sanctions against Russian diamonds.

On the other hand, the South African multinational De Beers and the World Diamond Council, which has the support of India, where most of the precious stones are cut.

In short, a clash of titans against the background of war. The paradox is that with the invasion of Ukraine, the Russians increased their diamond supplies, doubling them, even as prices remained stable, finding alternative sales routes to the United States and the rest of the G7 countries. Meetings and negotiations are ongoing.

The Times writes that the conversation on the sidelines of the UN Assembly between Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre De Croix and Cartier chief executive Cyrille Vigneron, who along with other diamond retailers is pushing for a ban on Russian diamonds, should be kept to a lower level. prices aimed, among other things, at China.

Russia owns half of the world’s diamond mines

Russia owns half of the world’s diamond mines, and the proceeds are turned into ammunition and missiles that will be used against Ukrainian cities.

The De Beers group, for its part, says it knows nothing about the ongoing negotiations in Belgium and the EU, and demands that one shopping center not be favored over another. In a word, no ban on Russians. In fact, 20 of its De Beers employees died in a bus accident in the South African mining province of Limpopo.

There are also discussions about how to track Russian stones. Added to this scenario is the reorganization of Wagner’s mercenary forces, especially in the Central African Republic, where Prigozhin’s contractors guarantee the protection of the coup leadership, as well as gold and diamond mines in some regions of the country threatened by rebel forces.

President Faustin-Archangel Tuadera, who was interviewed in Bangui, formalized the transfer from the command, which belonged to Prigozhin and Utkin, to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

“We have always dealt with the Russian government,” the president admitted. And one of his advisers, Fidele Guandzhika, added that all mercenaries who do not want to obey the chain of government leadership will have no other choice but to return to Russia. “Russia sent them and armed them, and only Russia will decide when they will leave.”

According to a Western diplomat quoted by the Washington Post, 450 have already departed. And the weakening caused by the rebellion of the leader of the Wagner Group and his death in a plane crash, together with two of the most important members of the organization, has led in recent days to the advance of rebel forces east, north and west, especially in the direction northeast of Ndele, the famous – note the coincidence – with its gold and diamond mines.

The mercenary payment mechanism goes through me. A percentage of the revenue from exported diamonds remains in the pockets of the Wagner group, now owned by the Kremlin, and its military professionals.