JD Vance asked Ukraine to halt strikes on tankers using Russian port

{"text":[[{"start":11.7,"text":"Ukraine has halted an intense campaign of drone strikes on oil tankers using a critical Black Sea port after a request at the end of last month from US vice-president JD Vance, according to Ukrainian officials."}],[{"start":25.44,"text":"Washington was alarmed that Ukraine was further destabilising oil markets and harming US companies by targeting tankers carrying crude piped from Kazakhstan to a Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk."}],[{"start":39.96,"text":"Vance asked President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt the attacks during a call on July 31, the Ukrainian officials and other people familiar with the matter said."}],[{"start":49.48,"text":"Ukraine has not struck tankers near the CPC terminal since then, according to the officials and FT analysis of open-source information."}],[{"start":57.92,"text":"It had 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 other Russian cargo, the officials said."}],[{"start":219.07,"text":"“We very carefully listen to our American partners,” a senior Ukrainian official said, adding that Kyiv has established relevant “mechanisms” in response to the US request. The CPC had been “a regular part of the conversation with the US and the Kazakh governments”, the person said."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":219.57,"text":"US energy majors Chevron and ExxonMobil both own stakes in CPC, which is Kazakhstan’s main oil export route, and in the western Kazakh oilfields that service it. Chevron owns 50 per cent of Tengiz, the country’s largest field, while Exxon owns 25 per cent."}],[{"start":220.07,"text":"A US official confirmed that the administration had warned Ukraine to stop targeting non-Russian vessels in the Black Sea, as well as CPC infrastructure."}],[{"start":220.57,"text":"“The administration views the CPC as a vital conduit of Kazakhstan-origin energy for European markets that serves as an alternative to Russian energy supplies,” the official said."}],[{"start":221.07,"text":"The US had “reaffirmed” Kyiv’s commitment to refrain from targeting CPC infrastructure and non-Russian vessels bound for the pipeline’s terminal at Novorossiysk, provided they were not otherwise subject to Ukrainian sanctions, the official added."}],[{"start":221.57,"text":"Vance’s office, Zelenskyy’s office and the Kazakh foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CPC, Chevron and Exxon declined to comment."}],[{"start":222.07,"text":"Vance’s request is not the first time US officials have sought to deter Ukraine from hitting American business interests in Russia."}],[{"start":222.57,"text":"In February, Olha Stefanishyna, then Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, said that she had received a démarche — a diplomatic message intended to register disapproval — from the US state department, following a Ukrainian drone strike on Novorossiysk port late last year."}],[{"start":223.07,"text":"Ukraine’s attacks on the CPC terminal last month — alongside an intense campaign on Russian shipping in the Sea of Azov — caused chaos, repeatedly forcing Kazakhstan to stop piping oil to Novorossiysk and more than doubling shipping rates and insurance."}],[{"start":223.57,"text":"As a result, CPC loaded just 1.3mn barrels a day in July, down more than 300,000 b/d from the previous month and 600,000 b/d fewer than in May, according to Kpler, which tracks energy flows."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":224.07,"text":"Kazakh crude has become particularly important to global markets as Middle Eastern supplies remain constrained by the Iran war."}],[{"start":224.57,"text":"A tanker chartered by Exxon was hit during the strikes as it waited to load at the CPC terminal on July 17."}],[{"start":215.48,"text":"Last month, Chevron chief executive Mike Wirth said the company was working with the US and other governments to ensure the “pipeline stays flowing”."}],[{"start":224.16,"text":"Ukraine’s attacks were part of a long-range drone campaign on oil infrastructure aimed at bringing the war to Russia and cutting off revenues that fund the Kremlin’s continuing invasion."}],[{"start":233.96,"text":"Vance has been among the most influential, and at times contentious, figures in the Trump administration’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war, notoriously reprimanding Zelenskyy during their first Oval Office meeting in February 2025."}],[{"start":247.32,"text":"Earlier this year, Vance said halting military assistance to Kyiv was “one of the things I’m proudest that we’ve done as an administration”."}],[{"start":254.96,"text":"A person familiar with Ukraine’s position said Kyiv agreed to the Trump administration’s request because it was seeking a US licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles. It also hopes to buy several hundred of them before the winter, when Russia is expected to intensify its aerial assaults on critical infrastructure."}],[{"start":273.16,"text":"Zelenskyy told Vance during the July 31 call that Patriots and air defence were Kyiv’s “top priority”, the Ukrainian president’s office said."}],[{"start":282.4,"text":"Ukraine has accelerated its campaign against Russian energy infrastructure elsewhere, hitting three refineries deep inside the country this month. The strikes have taken a large slice of Russia’s refining capacity offline, forcing it to suspend exports of fuel and putting pressure on global prices of diesel and petrol."}],[{"start":300.32,"text":"Cartography by Steven Bernard"}],[{"start":308.16,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786517109_5711.mp3"}