Ahead of G7 Summit, UK announces ban on Russian diamonds in fresh round of sanctions

In a new wave of sanctions, the United Kingdom has placed a ban on Russian diamonds, as well as the military-industrial complex and metals, in the midst of the current Ukraine crisis.

The diamond export restriction coincides with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and would affect a sector with $4 billion in exports in 2021. The UK government declared a ban on Russian-origin copper, aluminium, and nickel imports in a statement on Thursday. In addition to these trade restrictions, the UK is planning to target an additional 86 members of Putin’s military-industrial complex, as well as individuals involved in crucial areas including energy, metals, and shipping, according to the statement.

The UK is continuing to work with G7 allies to target all sorts of sanctions evasion, including those who deliberately assist the Kremlin in its efforts to undercut the impact of present sanctions, it added.

While meeting with G7 leaders in Hiroshima, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will give a warning against complacency in defending “our ideals and against despotic governments,” according to the UK government.

The UK has imposed the strongest set of sanctions ever imposed on a substantial economy to thwart Russia’s war effort, it claimed.

“To date we have sanctioned over 1,500 individuals and entities, freezing more than £18 billion of assets in the UK, and sanctioned over £20 billion of UK-Russia goods trade,” the official statement of the UK government read.

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Along with other G7 leaders, the prime minister is set to visit the A-Bomb dome site at the Hiroshima Peace Park before participating in discussions on global collaboration, the G7 reaction to the Ukraine, Indo-Pacific security policy, and nuclear non-proliferation.

“He will urge the international community to stay the course on Ukraine, ensuring it has the diplomatic, military and economic support it needs, in the interests of international peace and security,” the government statement said.

In his meeting with President Zelenskyy on Monday, the Prime Minister confirmed increased military assistance and emphasised the significance of long-term international support for Ukraine, particularly for the country’s future in NATO. This announcement comes after that meeting. The leaders talked about Ukraine’s road to a stronger political alliance and greater cooperation with G7 and NATO members.

Recently, Russia has considerably increased the number of missile attacks against Ukraine, but it also seems that Ukraine is shooting down more of Russia’s missiles.

Meanwhile, the United States will also unveil new sanctions to “extensively restrict Russia’s access to goods that matter for its battlefield capabilities,” a US official said on Friday ahead of a G7 summit in Japan.

The United States apparently plans to blacklist about 70 companies and organizations for selling restricted US products to Russia.

“We will continue to expand export controls to make it even harder for Russia to sustain its war machine. Among other things, this involves extensively restricting categories of goods key to the battlefield, and also cutting off roughly 70 entities from Russia and third countries from receiving US exports by adding them to the Commerce blacklist,” the official stated.

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