MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The attack by Ukrainian drones on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) oil pumping station is Ukraine's response to the US-Russia talks, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at a meeting of the Russian President with the government.

"According to experts, the attack by Ukrainian drones is the so-called response to the discussions that took place at the Munich Conference, and, most likely, this is a response to the US on behalf of Ukraine regarding the talks that were planned," he said.

Novak recalled that the CPC pipeline transports oil that is produced in Kazakhstan under a production sharing agreement between Kazakhstan and the consortium members. According to him, the consortium mainly includes foreign shareholders: American companies Chevron and Exxon, as well as a number of European companies.

"This company (CPC - TASS) is not under sanctions. It reliably pumped [oil] through Russian territory using the pipeline infrastructure passing through our territory to Novorossiysk. In fact, this attack was really in order to stop the pumping of this oil, which belongs to foreign shareholders," the Deputy Prime Minister concluded.

On February 17, Kropotkinskaya Pump Station in South Russia, which is the largest CPC pump station on Russian territory, was attacked by an UAV, after which it was pulled out of service. There were no injuries to the pump station’s personnel. By rapid aligned response the consortium’s workers were able to prevent the threat of an oil spill. The pump station took serious damage, and it will require extensive repair work. The effects of the attack are expected to take 1.5 to 2 months to repair, potentially leading to a decline in oil pumping volumes from Kazakhstan by about 30%. Oil is temporarily being rerouted to the Tengiz-Novorossiysk oil pipeline via an emergency loop that bypasses the station.