Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned drone attacks on civilian vessels in the Black Sea on July 17 and 19, which were involved in legitimate oil transport via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) infrastructure, according to the website infohub.kz.
In a statement, the ministry said it views such attacks as an unacceptable encroachment on the country's economic interests and as deliberate actions aimed at destabilizing legitimate international trade, global energy markets, and the security of international transport and logistics supply chains.
"Our particular concern is that the previously agreed mechanism for exchanging information about civilian vessels entering the Black Sea to load oil at CPC terminals was deliberately ignored, endangering the lives and safety of the crews," the statement said.
Kazakhstan demands an immediate halt to the attacks and the adoption of comprehensive measures to ensure the security of its hydrocarbon export infrastructure.
The republic also called on partner countries to strongly condemn the attacks and invited all interested parties to develop practical measures to prevent such incidents. The ministry stressed that strict adherence to international law is the only way to avoid a repeat of such cases.
"Currently, Kazakhstan is conducting a full assessment of the damage caused. Based on the results, Kazakhstan reserves the right to use all mechanisms provided by international law to protect its legitimate interests, including seeking compensation for the damage," the ministry added.
The ministry also reaffirmed Kazakhstan's commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, the principles of international law, freedom of navigation, and the reliable functioning of international transport, logistics, and energy routes.
Earlier, it was reported that on July 19, two oil tankers were attacked by drones during loading at the CPC marine terminal's offshore berths VPU-1 and VPU-3. Also on July 17, the oil tanker Nordic Zenith was hit by a drone while heading to the CPC terminal for loading Kazakh oil.