Stefanishyna: Ukraine receives US diplomatic notice over Novorossiysk strike

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, has said she received an official warning from Washington over Ukrainian strikes on Russia's port of Novorossiysk, which allegedly affected certain American-linked investments routed through Kazakhstan.

"We have been hearing that Ukrainian attacks to Novorossiysk affected some of the American investments," Stefanishyna said, as quoted by CNN.

Stefanishyna added that she had received a formal démarche or diplomatic notice from the US Department of State on the matter, but stressed that Washington had not asked Kyiv to refrain from attacking Russian military and energy infrastructure in general.

"It was related to the very fact that American economic interest was affected there. We have taken the note on that," she said.

She added that the State Department's letter noted that the US currently does not have the same level of economic interests in Ukraine as it does in Kazakhstan.

"I was really, really sorry that in 35 years of Ukraine's independence, having so many chances, we never brought ourselves to the situation where we can do the same," Stefanishyna said.

She therefore called on US lawmakers to pass legislation strengthening sanctions against Moscow, saying delays in adopting the measure are seen as a victory for the Kremlin.

"If we are able to impose more sanctions and more pressure on Russia, they will not be in a position to withdraw from the negotiations," Stefanishyna concluded.

On the night of 13-14 November, Ukrainian UAVs struck port and oil infrastructure in Russia's Novorossiysk, damaging an oil depot, a container terminal, coastal facilities and a vessel.

In addition to Russian output, Kazakh oil also passes through Novorossiysk. The port ships more than 2 million barrels of oil per day, amounting to around 5% of global maritime shipments.

As of the morning of 14 November, oil prices had risen by roughly 2% amid concerns over supply after drones hit an oil storage facility in the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

On 8 May, Ukraine's parliament ratified the so-called minerals deal with the US and approved the creation of a joint Ukrainian-American reconstruction investment fund. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on 12 May.

On 13 May, Ukraine signed two commercial agreements with the US International Development Finance Corporation as part of the implementation of the ratified investment fund deal.