The US is preparing to impose sanctions on the controversial Nord Stream II project that will pipe Russian gas to Germany.

US politicians will soon debate a bill that could severely limit activities of companies building the pipeline, US Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in Kiev on Tuesday.

The legislation would come in the “not too distant future”, because “opposition to Nord Stream II is still very much alive and well in the US”, he added.

The $11bn (£8.3 bn) project would double exports of Russian gas to the EU. Russia already supplies nearly a third of the bloc’s gas and the pipeline will bypass many countries that currently profit from the transit of gas, including Ukraine and Poland.

Mr Perry’s remarks follow reports on a draft copy of the sanctions legislation seen by news site Foreign Policy. According to the draft, the sanctions will target European ships working on deep-sea pipelines related to Russian energy infrastructure.