The European Commission is proposing the 12th round of sanctions against Russia, which will include restrictions against individuals such as the son of Putin’s former deputy, Dmitry Medvedev, and even a relative of the Russian dictator, The Guardian reports. Russia’s diamond industry is also one of the main targets.
Among the 47 people the Commission wants to add to the list of those sanctioned is Vladimir Putin’s cousin, Ana Țivileva. She runs the “Defenders of the Fatherland” foundation that supports the Russian soldiers who invaded Ukraine.
The extended list also includes Ilia Medvedev, whose name and date of birth are the same as the son of Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s deputy in the Kremlin between 2008 and 2012 and the Russian dictator’s current deputy on the Moscow security council. Ilia Medvedev is sanctioned for organizing a disinformation and propaganda campaign in Ukraine.
Ban on Russian diamonds
The main objective of these proposals, which will have to be approved by European leaders at the next European Council summit in December, is to cut off the Kremlin’s criminal regime’s sources of income.
This will include a total ban on the sale of Russian rough diamonds and on jewelry using gems from Siberian mines.
According to the EU, this would lead to losses of over 4.5 billion euros for Russia.
This proposed ban has been in the works since Belgium, the EU’s main diamond producer, dropped its objections in Antwerp and the G7 agreed to impose these sanctions at the summit in Japan.
“The ban on Russian diamonds is part of the G7 effort to have a coordinated international ban to deprive Russia of this important source of revenue,” the EC proposal said.
Representatives from the G7 countries are on a three-day visit to Antwerp to find a way to enforce the ban.
One proposal from Belgium is for diamonds over a certain size, between 0.5 and one carat, to be given a unique identifier via blockchain to prove their provenance. Such a measure could apply to “between 80% and 90% of the world’s diamonds” and would give traders a way to separate illegal diamonds from legal ones.
Efforts to introduce this verification system have been blocked by problems, and large companies have lobbied the G7 countries to delay the decision on these sanctions as long as possible.
Sanctions on companies that help the Russian war machine
The European Commission is also proposing new bans on the sale of second-hand oil tankers to stop existing sanctions being circumvented by hiding the origin or destination of the oil sold.
The proposed sanctions also target companies or organizations operating in numerous sectors in Russia – the arms industry, IT companies with ties to the FSB, election officials in the occupied regions of Ukraine, private military companies such as Wagner and other “patriotic” organizations, many of which are accused of “militarizing” Ukrainian children.
The proposed sanctions also include civil sector companies accused of aiding the Russian war machine – AlfaStrakhovanie, which claims to be Russia’s largest private insurance company – has been listed as providing insurance contracts for the Russian defense ministry and military-industrial companies, but also for military vehicles used by the Russians in Ukraine.
And the Iliușin Aviatic Complex, a major aircraft manufacturer, was also targeted. It manufactures the Il-76 military transport aircraft, often used to transport invaders and their equipment.
Also, the developer and operator of the Russian navigation system Glonass, one of the competitors of the American GPS system.
Finally, a number of Belarusian officials were also included in the proposed sanctions for their role in supplying Russia with weapons or other support, such as training Russian soldiers at bases in Belarus.
Editor: Adrian Dumitru
