Kateryna Hirnyk09:05, 12.08.26

On July 31, during a phone call, Vance asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop the attacks.

Ukraine has stopped drone strikes on oil tankers near the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after a request from US Vice President J.D. Vance late last month, the Financial Times reported , citing Ukrainian officials.

According to the publication’s sources, Vance asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop the attacks in a phone call on July 31. Since then, Ukraine has not struck tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal.

“Washington was concerned that Ukraine continued to destabilize oil markets and hurt American companies by attacking tankers carrying oil through pipelines from Kazakhstan to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk,” the article notes.Video of the day

According to officials, Ukraine has agreed not to strike Caspian Pipeline Consortium infrastructure or non-Russian vessels as long as those vessels are not under Ukrainian sanctions and are not carrying Russian oil or other Russian cargo.

“We are listening very carefully to our American partners,” one of the sources told the publication, adding that Kyiv has created the appropriate “mechanisms” in response to the US request.

A source familiar with Ukraine’s position said that Kyiv agreed to the Trump administration’s request because it sought to obtain a US license to produce Patriot missiles, as well as purchase several hundred of these missiles by winter, before Russia steps up its air strikes on critical infrastructure.

A US representative confirmed that the administration has warned Ukraine about the need to stop shelling non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea, as well as the infrastructure of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

“The administration views the CPC as a vital channel for supplying energy of Kazakh origin to European markets, serving as an alternative to Russian energy carriers,” the official said.

American energy giants Chevron and ExxonMobil own stakes in the consortium, as well as in the western Kazakhstan oil fields that serve it. Chevron owns 50 percent of Tengiz, the country’s largest field, and Exxon owns 25 percent.

(C)UNIAN 2026