In an effort to further limit revenue that may help fund Russia’s war in Ukraine, the G7 is moving forward with an embargo on Russian diamonds.

According to Belgian officials, the Group of 7 (G7) countries are expected to announce a ban on Russian diamond imports in the next 2-3 weeks.

The embargo, proposed by Belgium, whose city of Antwerp is the world’s largest hub for the diamond trade, will take effect in January, as one of the government officials, who wished to remain anonymous, told reporters in Brussels.

If the ban on this multi-million dollar trade is announced, as expected, this move will lead to a fragmentation of the global diamond market as the G7 accounts for almost 40% of this market.

“We are talking about restructuring a global market,” the official said, acknowledging that the system will not work perfectly immediately and that the G7 is still evaluating Belgium’s proposed plan.

“Russia is the biggest supplier worldwide. With this system, we are cutting them out, leaving them in a subordinate market with lower prices. We are cutting off financial flows from this industry.”

Efforts to cut Russia’s diamond export earnings and strengthen Washington’s existing sanctions against Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s largest producer, have been under discussion among G7 leaders since last year.

The EU bought 1.4 billion euros worth of Russian diamonds last year, according to Eurostat, as it had not banned imports of the precious stones or blacklisted Alrosa. The EU had previously mooted the idea of ​​going ahead with a ban on its own but Belgium was concerned that this would divert trade to other centers and away from Antwerp. Moreover, the EU accounts for only about 15% of the global market.