The Ukrainian government received an official message from the US State Department following the Ukrainian attack on the port of Novorossiysk in Russia, which harmed US interests in Kazakhstan – presented by Olha Stefanisina, Ambassador of Ukraine accredited to the United States, on Tuesday.
Kazakhstan exports most of its oil through the port of Novorossiysk. According to MTI, Stefanisina did not go into details about the diplomatic message on the fourth anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, saying only that it focused on strikes that hurt American interests and did not mention stopping offensives against Russian energy infrastructure.
We heard from the State Department to refrain (…) from attacking American interests
he pointed out to journalists.
“The contact was not related to encouraging Ukraine to refrain from attacking Russian military and energy infrastructure. It was related to the fact that American economic interests are being harmed there,” he said.
According to the ambassador, the incident made it clear that Ukraine had failed to build similarly close economic ties with the United States in the decades of its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The diplomat stated that he was determined to change this.
He said that the focus of his work as an ambassador is cooperation with the United States for the sake of a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, but also the guarantee that the Kyiv leadership builds sustainable and lasting American economic interests in Ukraine, which, according to him, would represent the strongest security guarantee for his country.
He emphasized that Ukraine is grateful for the personal commitment of US President Donald Trump to settle the war and does not feel abandoned by the US government.
At the same time, Stefanisina urged the US Congress to adopt the package of laws on additional sanctions against Russia. He added that Ukraine is working closely with US representatives on this legislation. In addition, without mentioning details, he also stated that they are cooperating with the American government in finding new ways to cut off Russia from the income necessary to continue the war.
