Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States said on Tuesday that the US State Department warned Kiev to refrain from attacking American interests following a Ukrainian strike on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, located near the Russian city of Novorossiysk.
Speaking at a press briefing in Washington, DC, Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna said the State Department delivered a diplomatic protest, known as a demarche.
“And we heard from the State Department that we should refrain from, you know, attacking American interests,” she said.
The American side notified Kiev that the strikes impacted US investments related to export infrastructure in the Black Sea, she said.
According to her, Washington did not request a general ban on strikes against Russian military or energy infrastructure, but specifically raised concerns about cases in which US interests were affected.
“It was specifically related to the fact that American economic interests were violated there. We took that into account,” she said.
Ukraine struck the marine terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), located near Novorossiysk, late last year.
One of the offshore mooring units was damaged, after which its operation was suspended and oil loading was restricted.
According to the consortium, there was no oil leak into the Black Sea and no casualties.
The CPC is the largest route for transporting oil from the Caspian region to world markets. The pipeline is more than 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) long. It connects fields in western Kazakhstan with the marine terminal in Novorossiysk. A significant portion of Kazakhstan’s oil exports passes through it.
The consortium includes Russian, Kazakh and Western companies, including the American company Chevron.
