The decision to construct the natural gas link from Russia to Europe was reached long ago and halting the project could result in an array of legal trouble, said Germany's Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, citing Russia Today's report on Sunday.

The 9.5 billion euros ($11.5 billion) project, designed to boost Russian gas supplies to Europe and bypass Ukraine, has long been targeted by Washington, which wants to sell its own sea-borne liquefied natural gas to the European market and cut the region's reliance on energy supplies from Moscow.

European Union lawmakers passed a resolution on Thursday calling for the bloc to stop the completion of the Nord Stream 2 in response to the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Germany's Federal Minister Svenja Schulze warned the country's newsroom Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: "If we stop the project now, we will inflict a great deal of harm, casting doubt on the reliability of decisions made on the basis of principles of the rule of law and would probably face court proceedings," as quoted by RT.

Schulze also highlighted that "Nord Stream 2 has been granted all permits required by law and is nearing completion."

The construction of the pipeline, which would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream link from Russia to Germany, was suspended in December 2019 following a threat of sanctions from the U.S..

Last week the United States imposed sanctions against the pipe-laying vessel, Fortuna, and its owner, a firm called KVT-RUS. Their assets are blocked and U.S. citizens are generally prohibited from dealing with them.

The laybarge Fortuna has started work in Danish waters ahead of the resumption of construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the consortium behind the project said on Sunday.

Danish Maritime Authority cleared Nord Stream 2 to resume the construction work on January 15. The authority had earlier said activities would include preparatory work and tests before the pipe-laying started.

Work resumed for a brief period last month on a 2.6-km (1.6-mile) stretch in German waters. A Danish regulator said construction would restart in Danish waters from mid-January with Fortuna, which had worked in the German zone.

More than 90 percent of the project, led by Russian gas giant Gazprom, has already been completed. Gazprom's western partners in the project are Germany's Uniper, BASF's Wintershall Dea, Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell, Austria's OMV and French energy company Engie.

(With input from Reuters)