The European Commission may relieve Hungary and Slovakia of an embargo on the purchase of Russian oil, two EU representatives said.

The Commission is expected to complete work on the next, sixth, EU sanctions against Russia on Tuesday, which will include a ban on the purchase of Russian oil, Reuters reported.

Hungary, heavily dependent on Russian oil, has repeatedly said it will not sign on to energy-related sanctions. Slovakia is also one of the EU countries most dependent on Russian fossil fuels.

To keep the EU united, the Commission could offer Slovakia and Hungary an exception or a long transition period, one official said.

The oil embargo is likely to be phased in and likely to come into effect only early next year, officials said.

According to the International Energy Agency, Slovakia and Hungary, located on the southern route of the Druzhba pipeline, which brings Russian oil to Europe, are especially dependent on oil, receiving, respectively, 96% and 58% of crude oil and oil products imports from Russia.

Germany, the EU's largest buyer of Russian oil, has said in recent days that it can handle the oil embargo.

In 2021, Germany imported 35% of its crude oil from Russia at 555,000 barrels per day, but has reduced that to 12% in recent weeks, the German economy ministry said in an energy security update on Sunday. An oil embargo with a sufficient transition period could now be controlled in Germany, subject to rising prices, the report said.

The EU sanctions package is due to be presented to EU government ambassadors on Wednesday.