Ukrainian president takes aim at imports of Russian diamonds

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Belgian lawmakers for more help and took aim at the continued import of Russian diamonds to Belgium's port of Antwerp on Thursday while repeating calls for a no-fly zone over his country.

Zelenskyy’s video address at the parliament elicited a long round of warm applause, but Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo reiterated the Western stance that NATO is not a party in the war.

“And it should not become one,” he added. “You have been pleading for a no-fly zone imposed by NATO since the beginning of this war. Let’s be frank, this would mean shooting down Russian planes and an escalation that might engulf the whole continent of Europe. More lives lost, and a wider war without any solution.”

De Croo, however, assured Zelenskyy of Belgium’s resolute and long-lasting support. He announced new orders for weapons to be delivered to the war-torn country.

Zelenskyy thanked Belgium — a country of 11.5 million — for its help, and for welcoming already 30,000 Ukrainian refugees who managed to escape the conflict.

But recalling the ordeal of the besieged city of Mariupol’s inhabitants, Zelenskyy also pointed to the continued importing of Russian rough diamonds to Antwerp, which is the world’s most important diamond trading hubs.

“There are people for whom Russian diamonds sometimes sold in Antwerp are more important," he said through a translator speaking in French. “People for whom accepting Russian ships in their ports, and for whom the income from these ships is more important than our struggles."

“I believe that peace is way more valuable than diamonds, than the deals sealed with Russia, than the Russian ships (allowed) in ports, than Russian oil and gas,” Zelenskyy added. “Help us. Do it, with weapons, sanctions, and the...