Many see it as the Kremlin’s response to the five recent explosions of tankers carrying Russian oil by unknown saboteurs. That’s true, but it’s just the surface. In reality, there’s a more layered strategy at play.With these added inspections, the Kremlin wants to:slow down oil exports from Kazakhstan to shrink its market share and push prices up;pressure European companies to lobby their governments (Italy, France, the Netherlands, the UK) and the European Commission to ease sanctions on Russia’s oil trade, especially the crackdown on the so-called “shadow fleet,” since Kazakhstan supplies 11.5% of the EU’s oil imports, and cutting that hurts European refineries;stir tensions between Kazakhstan’s government and U.S. oil companies that want to boost exports after investing heavily in recent production growth, while Astana must still stick to OPEC+ quotas;get U.S. oil firms to push the Trump administration to, in turn, pressure Ukraine into ending the war by cutting off military aid and equipment.SourceAbout the author. Mykhailo Honchar, expert on international energy and security relations.The editorial staff does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.