Ukraine Says US Warned Kyiv Against Strikes Affecting American Interests
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that the US Department of State warned Kyiv to refrain from attacking American interests following a Ukrainian strike on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium near the Russian city of Novorossiysk.
Speaking at a press briefing in Washington, D.C., 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, noting that the strikes affected US investments linked to export infrastructure in the Black Sea.
According to Stefanishyna, Washington did not request a general halt to Ukrainian strikes on Russian military or energy infrastructure but specifically raised concerns when American interests were impacted. “It was specifically related to the fact that American economic interests were violated there. We took that into account,” she added.
In late November 2025, Ukraine struck the marine terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium near Novorossiysk, damaging one of its offshore mooring units. The facility suspended operations and restricted oil loading following the incident. The consortium reported no oil spill into the Black Sea and no casualties.
The pipeline, which spans more than 1,500 kilometers, is the largest route for transporting oil from the Caspian region to global markets, linking fields in western Kazakhstan with the Novorossiysk terminal. The consortium includes Russian, Kazakh, and Western firms, including Chevron Corporation, and carries a significant share of Kazakhstan’s oil exports.
