Myth 13

Sanctions mean Russian-mined diamonds cannot reach U.S. consumers.

Truth

Current sanctions allow the largest volume of polished diamonds — <0.5ct ones — to enter the U.S. even if from Russia. This applies to Russian-mined diamonds cut and polished in another country; other U.S. sanctions still apply.

The U.S. Treasury designated Alrosa in 2022, describing it as a Russian state-owned enterprise and saying the action was intended to restrict sources of revenue for the Russian government.

The United States also introduced diamond-specific import restrictions. Under OFAC’s published rules, Russian-mined non-industrial diamonds weighing one carat or more have been barred from U.S. import since March 1, 2024, even if cut or polished in a third country. Since September 1, 2024, the threshold has been 0.5 carats. In other words, polishing a qualifying Russian diamond in India does not by itself remove the U.S. import restriction. The rules also include specific exemptions for goods that were already outside Russia before specified dates.

However, <0.5ct diamonds are the largest volume of diamonds sold in the United States. A large fraction of these can originate from Russia.

Russia remains a Kimberley Process participant. Therefore a buyer who wants to avoid Russian-mined diamonds cannot rely on a generic conflict-free label to answer that concern.

An ordinary grading report will not answer it either. GIA says that examining a polished diamond alone cannot establish its mining country. Cutting and polishing a Russian diamond in another country does not change where it was mined. What matters is whether the stone has a documented history that reaches back to its source.