European Union countries are “almost there” in agreeing the bloc’s proposed new package of sanctions against Russia, including an oil embargo, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday.

“I hope that they will get an agreement. They are almost there. And we need this agreement because we have to push still more our economic and financial pressure on Russia,” Borrell told an event in Italy.

Yesterday, the EU Commission proposed that the next round of sanctions include a ban on Russian oil imports, which if passed would be its toughest measure against the Russian energy sector to date.

A few days ago, officials in Slovakia and Hungary stated that they would not support the European Union’s proposal to impose sanctions on Russian energy.