The former President of the European Council has called for the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be cancelled in response to a build-up of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border.

Writing on Twitter, Donald Tusk said: “If you really want to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine, you have to stop Nord Stream 2. As simple as that.”

As the leader of the European People’s Party, a centre-right grouping that is the biggest coalition in the European Parliament, Tusk is one of the most influential voices yet to come out against the project.

The project has long been the subject of disagreement in the EU, with opponents claiming that it will increase the bloc’s dependency of Russian gas as well as cutting off crucial revenue streams from Ukraine.

The pipeline, which will carry gas from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, means Russia will not need to send its gas through Ukraine to get to the west.

Ukraine receives hundreds of millions of dollars in transit fees from the movement of gas throuhg its territory.

Before the Open: Get the jump on the markets with our early morning newsletter

However, Germany has as yet resisted calls to scrap the project, despite the threat of economic penalties from allies like the US.

In February more than a dozen firms pulled out of work on the $11bn pipeline to avoid sanctions from the US, a longtime opponent of the project.

As yet, Germany has stood behind the project, with foreign minister Heiko Maas warning that halting the project could have the reverse effect to the one intended.

“I am skeptical that halting the Nord Stream 2 project would lead to a de-escalation by Moscow — in fact it could have the opposite effect,” he said, speaking on German television.

The latest calls for the project to be postponed come as Russian forces gather on its border with Ukraine.

Read more: EU Parliament calls for halt to Nord Stream 2 construction after Navalny arrest

The build-up of troops recalls 2014, when the Kremlin annexed the Crimea peninsula. Since then, proxies have been fighting a war against the Ukrainian state in the Donbas region of east Ukraine.