MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to

Washington said on Friday that Ukraine would not have attacked

the Nord Stream gas pipelines without the tacit approval of the

United States, and that Russia would identify and punish those

behind the attack.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Ukraine's

top military commander approved the 2022 attack on the gas

pipelines despite a warning from the U.S. Central Intelligence

Agency to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy not to carry

out the bombing.

"They seek to shift all responsibility to their Ukrainian

puppets," Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement

on Nord Stream. "We will seek to identify the real perpetrators

of the bombing and punish them."