Poland proposes ban on Russian diamonds, LPG in new sanctions package

Poland proposed on Monday that new European Union sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine should include a ban on Russian diamonds and Liquid Petroleum Gas and called for aligning sanctions against Belarus with those against Moscow.

In a proposal seen by Reuters, Poland calls for banning imports of Russian diamonds, the sales of which brought the Russian budget $4.5 billion in 2021, it said, and putting individual sanctions on the Russian Alrosa diamond company.

"Alrosa has supported Russian military forces and the Russian war efforts in Ukraine, both directly and indirectly, for many years," the Polish paper said.

The EU, which has already agreed 11 sanctions package against Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, should also ban the provision of Information and Communication Technology services to entities from Russia, including computer software, cybersecurity services, and other ICT/IT services.

"In the 8th package of sanctions against Russia, IT consultancy services were banned. This is a fairly narrow scope. No further ICT services were banned in the 9th and 10th sanctions packages. Therefore, we call for other services to be included in the ban, in accordance with Poland's proposals," it said.

The EU should also stop buying Russian Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Poland said, to preserve the integrity and transparency of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas market and avoid distortion of competition.

"Although LPG is a petroleum product, it has not fallen within the scope of the EU's embargo on the products belonging to the aforementioned category," it said.

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