Ukraine Halts Black Sea Strikes

PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets U.S. Vice President JD Vance in Rome, Italy May 18, 2025. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS /File Photo

Aug. 12 — Ukraine has paused drone strikes on oil tankers using Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk after a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing Ukrainian officials.

The newspaper said Vance made the request last month after U.S. officials became concerned that Ukrainian attacks were disrupting oil markets and hurting American companies by targeting tankers carrying crude from Kazakhstan through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC, terminal at Novorossiysk.

Ukraine agreed not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels as long as those ships were not under Ukrainian sanctions and were not carrying Russian oil or cargo, the Financial Times reported.

The White House, State Department and Vance’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside business hours. Reuters could not immediately verify the Financial Times report.

Ukrainian forces have recently intensified strikes on Russian energy infrastructure and other targets as part of a campaign Kyiv says is intended to deprive Moscow of resources used to fund its military.

Black Sea drone attacks disrupted as much as one-fifth of CPC oil loadings in July, four sources familiar with the data told Reuters. The attacks affected crude exports from Kazakhstan and operations involving Western oil companies.

Kazakhstan, which depends heavily on the CPC route for crude exports, saw oil production fall 14% in July compared with June, according to the sources. Chevron and Exxon Mobil are among the major Western oil companies operating in the country.

A U.S. official also confirmed to the Financial Times that the Trump administration had warned Ukraine to stop attacking non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

(Source: Reuters)