Ukraine Halts Black Sea Tanker Strikes After US Request

By Staff, Agencies

Ukraine has suspended an intensive campaign of drone strikes against oil tankers operating from a key Black Sea port following a request from US Vice President JD Vance late last month, according to Ukrainian officials cited by The Financial Times.

US officials reportedly expressed concern that the attacks were destabilizing oil markets and harming American companies by targeting tankers carrying crude from Kazakhstan to a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

According to Ukrainian officials and people familiar with the matter, Vance asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt the attacks during a call on July 31.

Ukraine has not targeted tankers near the CPC terminal since then, based on official statements and Financial Times analysis of open-source information.

Ukrainian officials said Kiev agreed not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels, provided those vessels were not under Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian oil or other Russian cargo.

"We very carefully listen to our American partners," a senior Ukrainian official said, adding that Kiev had established relevant "mechanisms" following the US request.

The official said the CPC had been "a regular part of the conversation with the US and the Kazakh governments."

US energy companies Chevron and ExxonMobil both hold stakes in the CPC and in the western Kazakh oil fields supplying the pipeline. Chevron owns 50% of Tengiz, Kazakhstan's largest oil field, while Exxon holds a 25% stake.

A US official confirmed that Washington had warned Ukraine against targeting non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea as well as CPC infrastructure.

"The administration views the CPC as a vital conduit of Kazakhstan-origin energy for European markets that serves as an alternative to Russian energy supplies," the official said.

Washington has also reaffirmed Kiev's commitment not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels bound for the Novorossiysk terminal, provided they are not otherwise subject to Ukrainian sanctions.