On February 24, the administration of US President Donald Trump officially spoke out against Ukraine's actions targeting the Novorossiysk oil port on the Black Sea coast of Russia.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, confirmed at a press conference that the US had sent a diplomatic protest, pointing out that Kiev's raids disrupted oil flows from large US energy corporations operating in Kazakhstan.
The US State Department emphasized that Ukraine needs to restrain attacks on areas that affect US interests when deploying military operations targeting Russian infrastructure.
The target of the attack was the terminal of the pipeline belonging to the Caspian Pipelines Association (CPC), a strategic link transporting about 80% of Kazakhstan's oil exports, including output from giants such as Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Plc.
Although Ukraine announced that the attacks at the end of last year were aimed at cutting off oil and gas revenues from Russia's military campaign, the actual consequences forced Kazakhstan to sharply cut production and transportation. This has a direct negative impact on US investments worth billions of USD in Central Asia, forcing the White House to intervene to protect national economic security.
Ambassador Stefanishyna clarified that the US warning was not aimed at preventing Ukraine from attacking Russia's purely military or energy targets, but only focused on protecting the specific economic interests of the US affected in Novorossiysk.
Previously, to protect the CPC project, the US even allowed Russian corporation Lukoil to retain shares in this joint venture despite strict sanctions imposed last year. This move shows that the US is willing to put pragmatic economic interests above military support priorities in situations that pose risks to domestic energy corporations.
The Ukrainian side announced that it had received a warning from its allies and would have to consider more carefully in future combat plans to avoid causing a rift in relations with the US.
The event took place right on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the conflict, highlighting the complexity in the relationship between Kiev and the new administration in the US, where core economic interests are being prioritized.
Observers believe that the US publicly putting pressure on Ukraine to adjust its military objectives shows a clear change in the White House's intervention strategy in the current crisis.
