MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. The West is seeking to shake off responsibility as it investigates the sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a comment for Izvestia.

"Because the West’s key task is to absolve itself of any responsibility for sabotaging the Nord Streams," the diplomat said when asked to comment on why Germany has decided to pedal ahead with its investigation into the incident of almost two years ago in the wake of a report in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Earlier, the WSJ reported, citing unnamed sources, that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, whose term expired in May, initially approved a plan to sabotage the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipelines, but later tried to revoke his decision after the US Central Intelligence Agency found out about it. At the CIA’s request, the Ukrainian leader announced he was canceling the operation, but former top Ukrainian military commander Valery Zaluzhny not only ignored his demand but also tweaked the original plan, the newspaper said. In particular, Zaluzhny involved Roman Chervinsky, a former officer of Ukraine's main security and intelligence service, in organizing the attack. Zaluzhny later denied any role in undermining the Nord Streams, the newspaper added.

On Wednesday, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper reported, citing a joint probe with ARD television and the weekly Die Zeit, that German federal prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor suspected of having played a role in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines. While the suspect’s last known whereabouts were in Poland, he has reportedly disappeared.

German prosecutors are also investigating two other Ukrainian diving instructors, including a woman, the SZ newspaper said. Together, the three are suspected to have formed the crew of the yacht Andromeda at the center of the German investigation. The vessel might have been used for delivering explosives to the natural gas pipelines.