Russia and West join forces to tackle trade in ‘blood diamonds’ despite feud over Moscow’s diamonds

UNITED NATIONS — The United States and its Western allies have been feuding with Russia over its diamond production, but they joined forces on Wednesday to continue supporting the Kimberley Process, which aims to end the “blood diamond” trade that has fueled devastating conflict in Africa to eliminate.

At a meeting of the UN General Assembly, the 193 member states adopted by consensus a resolution recognizing that the Kimberley Process, which certifies the export of rough diamonds, “contributes to the prevention of conflict fueled by diamonds ” and the Security Council helps impose sanctions on the diamond trade. conflict diamonds.

The Kimberley Process came into effect in 2003 in the aftermath of bloody civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where diamonds were used by armed groups to finance the conflicts.

Zimbabwe’s UN Ambassador Albert Chimbindi, whose country chaired the Kimberley Process in 2023, said in introducing the resolution that it would “renew the General Assembly’s commitment to ensure that diamonds remain a force for inclusive sustainable development rather than a driver of armed conflict.”

It was true in 2003 and “remains true today,” he said, that profits from the diamond trade can fuel conflict, fund rebel movements aimed at undermining or overthrowing governments, and lead to the spread of illegal weapons.

The European Union’s Clayton Curran told the meeting after the vote that the Kimberley Process “faces unprecedented challenges” and condemned “the aggression of one Kimberley Process participant against another” – the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 .

For the first time in its history, the plenary meeting of participants in the Kimberley Process in November failed to draft a consensus communiqué due to serious disagreements between Russia and the West.

The main reason was a Ukrainian request, supported by the United States, Britain and others, to investigate whether Russian diamond production is financing the war against Kiev and what the consequences are for the Kimberley Process, where Russia and several allies are strongly involved. to resist.

Russia refused to support a communiqué recognizing Ukraine’s request. And before Wednesday’s vote, the deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s economic department, Alexander Repkin, accused Western countries of sabotaging international diamond cooperation because of “their own geopolitical interests.”

Referring to the European Union’s sanctions on Russian diamonds, Repkin accused the West and its companies of trying to gain control over global diamond production and processing.

He said that “the further functioning of the Kimberley Process is at stake,” but Russia will do everything it can to support his work.

He noted that the plenary communiqué served as the basis for the General Assembly’s resolution on the role of conflict diamonds in fueling conflict, but without that communiqué the resolution approved on Wednesday is “largely technical in nature.”

The EU’s Curran urged reform of the process “to broaden the definition of ‘conflict diamonds’ to capture the evolving nature of conflict and the reality on the ground.” He said the EU will also try again this year to discuss the issue of the negative impact of the illegal diamond trade on the environment.

Britain expressed regret at the failure to discuss the link between Russia’s rough diamond revenues and its invasion of Ukraine, and reiterated the need for a discussion to ensure that the Kimberley Process addresses issues related to the disconnecting diamonds from conflict.

United Arab Emirates Deputy Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab said it is more important than ever to strengthen the Kimberley Process, which his country is chairing this year.

The UAE has identified three paths: setting up a permanent secretariat that was approved in late March in the Botswana capital Gabarone, completing a review and reform of the process by the end of the year, and identifying digital technologies that will strengthen the position of the UAE. Kimberley Process, he said.