"We are currently reviewing all our options," Borrell told lawmakers at the European Parliament.

Borrell said one of the paths open to the bloc were "additional targeted sanctions on individuals and on business owned by the military".

The EU already has an arms embargo on Myanmar and has slapped asset freezes and visa bans on 14 officials over the bloody crackdown on the country's Rohingya.

The military ousted and detained civilian leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi in a coup last week that has drawn widespread international condemnation.

Borrell said the EU could also review development assistance to Myanmar or curb trade ties with the southeast Asian nation.

But the former Spanish minister insisted that the bloc "should avoid rushing into measures which could adversely affect the most vulnerable part of the population".

He said foreign ministers from the EU's 27 nations would discuss the next moves at a meeting on February 22.

"We will ensure that we are doing nothing to legitimise the actions of the military, while trying to maintain support to the people of Myanmar," he said.