Washington’s envoy for Venezuela said on Thursday he was hopeful that the European Union will impose sanctions against Caracas in the coming months and the United States was examining more measures to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

U.S. envoy Elliott Abrams told reporters that Maduro’s government was increasingly relying on Russian oil firm Rosneft for financial support. Rosneft’s purchases and sales of Venezuelan oil did not violate U.S. sanctions at this time, he added.