According to sources, during a phone call on July 31, J.D. Vance asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop these attacks. Since then, Ukrainian forces have not carried out strikes against tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal, which is located at the port of Novorossiysk.
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“Washington was concerned that Ukraine continued to destabilize oil markets and harm American companies by striking tankers transporting oil via pipelines from Kazakhstan to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in Russia’s Novorossiysk port,” the article notes.
Officials say Ukraine agreed not to target Caspian Pipeline Consortium infrastructure or vessels not belonging to Russia, as long as these vessels are not on Ukraine’s sanctions list and are not carrying Russian oil or other Russian cargo.
“We listen very carefully to our American partners,” one interlocutor noted, adding that Kyiv, in response to the U.S. request, has created appropriate “mechanisms.”
Why they agreed to the U.S. request
A source familiar with Ukraine’s position reported that Kyiv agreed to the request from the Donald Trump administration because it sought to obtain a U.S. license for the production of Patriot missiles, as well as to purchase several hundred of these missiles before winter, before Russia intensifies its air strikes against critically important infrastructure.
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A U.S. representative confirmed to the newspaper that the administration warned Ukraine about the need to stop firing on non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea, as well as strikes on Caspian Pipeline Consortium infrastructure.
“The administration considers the Caspian Pipeline Consortium a vital energy supply channel from Kazakhstan to European markets, which is an alternative to Russian energy resources,” the official emphasized.
U.S. energy giants Chevron and ExxonMobil hold large stakes in the consortium, as well as in the Western Kazakhstan oil fields that supply it. Chevron owns 50% of the country’s largest field, Tengiz, and Exxon owns 25%.
