Ukraine has suspended drone strikes on oil tankers loading at Russia's Novorossiysk port following a direct appeal from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who raised concerns in a late-July phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about market destabilization and risks to American corporate interests.
Kyiv agreed to refrain from targeting Caspian Pipeline Consortium infrastructure and non-Russian vessels not under Ukrainian sanctions or carrying Russian cargo. The CPC terminal, located on Russian soil, serves as Kazakhstan's primary crude export route, with Chevron and ExxonMobil holding major stakes in the consortium and Kazakh oil fields. July drone operations had cut CPC loadings by as much as one-fifth, contributing to a 14% drop in Kazakh output.
The concession is tied to Kyiv's pursuit of a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors domestically.