New York (CNN Business) The rapidly-spreading coronavirus in China poses the biggest demand threat to the oil market since the 2008 financial crisis. Yet OPEC and Russia can't agree on a rescue plan.

Saudi Arabia, seeking to cushion the blow from the coronavirus , proposed further production cuts during three days of meetings in Vienna this week. But Russia is pushing back -- even though fears about the coronavirus have sent oil prices crashing into yet another bear market.

The Russians said "they need more time" to weigh recommendations from the group's technical committee and assess the impact of the coronavirus on the market, a source close to the negotiations told CNN Business' John Defterios.

The coronavirus has clobbered oil prices because it is destroying demand in China, the world's largest oil importer and the epicenter of global oil demand growth. The crisis has killed more than 560 people, infected over 28,000 and brought large parts of the world's second-largest economy to a standstill.

The compromise proposal from Saudi Arabia was to cut oil production by 600,000 barrels per day, down from 800,000 to 1 million barrels, a senior OPEC source confirmed to CNN.

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