German chancellor Friedrich Merz is “actively” backing a proposed EU ban on the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia to Germany in a bid to stop any US and Russian efforts to reactivate the gas links.

Merz’s government earlier this week said it endorsed the ban as part of the bloc’s upcoming round of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine. According to three officials familiar with the matter, the chancellor sought to quell any domestic debates about the merits of a potential reactivation.

Reports in the Financial Times in March about Kremlin-linked Russian and US business people seeking to restart the privately owned pipelines prompted Merz to start discussions with officials in Berlin and Brussels about how to prevent that, one of the people said.