The European Commission, the EU executive, on Friday formally proposed its latest package of sanctions against Moscow, including an import ban on Russian gold, and legal tweaks to prevent current measures from hampering food shipments, Reuters reported.

The new measures are considered "a maintenance and alignment package," the Commission said in a statement.

Officials privately referred to it as a "sixth-and-a-half" set of sanctions for its limited scope compared with six previous rounds imposed on Russia that hit the country’s financial services, oil or coal.

"Today's package will introduce a new import ban on Russian gold, while reinforcing our dual use and advanced technology export controls," the Commission said in a statement. "In doing so, it will reinforce the alignment of EU sanctions with those of our G7 partners. It will also strengthen reporting requirements to tighten EU asset freezes," it said.

Brussels will also tighten existing sanctions, with new curbs on the imports by Russia of goods that could be used for military purposes, including chemicals and machinery.

The EU has denied its sanctions affected food trade. Proposed tweaks are meant to make sure that rules are not misinterpreted by traders, including a ban on access of Russian ships to EU ports, one official said.

Russian ships that carry food or medicines are already exempt, but some traders have avoided food exported from Russian ports that are indirectly owned by Russian state-owned companies that have been sanctioned by Brussels. The new package will clarify that these ports are not subject to sanctions, the source said.

At the same time, the Commission aims to tighten the existing ban and prevent Russian ships from bypassing sanctions by offloading their cargoes at outer docks, the source said. For that purpose, the definition of ports is to be extended.

EU governments must now agree on the measures for them to become law, although diplomats said they were uncontroversial and should pass through easily. Ambassadors are due to meet on Monday and then on Wednesday for possible approval.