Ukrainian envoy says U.S. raised concerns about strikes aimed at Russia that impacted U.S. oil interests

An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, on Oct. 11, 2022. (AP Photo, File)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has expressed its displeasure about Ukraine’s recent attacks on the ⁠ Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea that have impacted U.S. oil interests in ⁠Kazakhstan, Kyiv’s chief envoy to Washington said on Tuesday.

Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna noted the U.S. concern on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

“This reach-out was not related to encouraging Ukraine from refraining to attack Russian military and energy infrastructure. It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there,” Stefanishyna told reporters in Washington. “It did happen, and we have taken the note.”

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium operates a pipeline from the Caspian coast in northwest Kazakhstan to the Novorossiysk port. The pipeline handles much of the crude exports from three major Kazakh fields in which major U.S. energy companies, Chevron and ExxonMobil, have stakes.

The G7 group of leading industrialized nations issued a leaders’ statement on Tuesday to mark the fourth anniversary of the war reaffirming their “unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and right to exist, and its freedom, sovereignty and independence.” The statement also praised President Donald Trump ‘s efforts to negotiate a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.

The UN General Assembly also passed a resolution on Tuesday voicing support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and calling for an immediate ceasefire and comprehensive peace, but the U.S. was one of 51 countries that abstained. The U.S. had tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the references to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. U.S. deputy ambassador Tammy Bruce said the Trump administration supports an immediate ceasefire but language on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would “distract” from peace negotiations with Russia.

During the U.S.-brokered talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained maximalist demands, insisting Kyiv pull its forces from four Ukrainian regions that Moscow illegally annexed but never fully captured. Trump has argued it’s inevitable that Russia will win control of the Ukrainian territory and has pressured President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a deal to save lives.

Zelenskyy said his country has withstood the onslaught by Russia’s bigger and better equipped army, which over the past year of fighting captured just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. Russia now holds nearly 20% of Ukraine.

Trump later on Tuesday will deliver the annual State of the Union address. Stefanishyna said she expects that Trump, who has made ending the war a priority, will touch on the conflict in the address, even though she did not expect major changes in his message.

“But at the same time, we want President Trump to hear us ahead of the speech that, you know, despite all the complexity and tragedy of what is happening in Ukraine, still Ukrainian people very much rely on his leadership,” she said.

Aamer Madhani And Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press