Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how the sanctions imposed on Russian diamonds announced at the G7 go further than sanctions announced in 2022; and whether they will cover Russian diamonds processed in other places, particularly (1) the UAE, and (2) India.

In 2022 the UK increased import duties by an additional 35 percentage points on a variety of precious and semiprecious stones and metals from Russia and Belarus, including rough and polished diamonds and sanctioned the Russian state-owned company Alrosa. Our recent announcement goes further and we will legislate later this year for a complete ban on the import of Russian diamonds. We will continue to work closely with our G7 partners to restrict trade in and use of Russian diamonds and engage with key partners with the aim of ensuring effective implementation of future coordinated restrictive measures.