OREANDA-NEWS Western countries, along with Ukraine, are demanding that Russian diamonds be recognized as "blood diamonds," according to a report by Gazeta.ru.

According to the agency, Ukraine, the European Union, Australia, Great Britain, Canada and the United States demanded at a meeting in Botswana to condemn Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and recognize Russian diamonds as "blood diamonds," amending the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

Ukrainian representative Andrey Tkalenko reportedly demanded to expand the definition of the Kimberly Scheme and allow member states to exclude by majority vote a country that violated the sovereignty of another participant.

It is specified that the term "blood diamonds" is applied at the UN to stones that are mined on the territory of a country where hostilities are taking place. However, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and the CAR did not support the proposal.