Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, asserted the collective commitment of the G7 and the European Union to take concerted measures aimed at curbing Russia’s income from the diamond trade. According to IDEX Online, Michel spoke to an audience of 450 delegates at the FACETS 2023 Diamonds For Change conference in Botswana on October 25.
“Natural resources should never finance war or human rights abuses. Rather they should breathe life into peace, prosperity and economic development,” Michael said. The statement came some days before an anticipated announcement by the G7 nations regarding their plans to ban Russian diamonds.
The conference, organized by the Botswana government and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), also featured Botswana’s President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, who spoke about the potential of blockchain technology in ensuring ethical diamond sourcing.
The AWDC is endorsing the EU proposal, one of four potential traceability solutions currently under consideration by the G7 nations to identify and prohibit the trade in Russian diamonds.
