INTERNATIONAL: The topic of Ukraine entering into the European Union is "not for tomorrow," said French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune, as EU leaders have gathered in France on Thursday ,March 10, to discuss the crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"It will take time," added Beaune, referring to debates in international political circles over whether or not to give Ukraine a fast-track entry into the EU as a gesture of solidarity for Ukraine in light of the Russian invasion.

European Union leaders will phase out buying Russian oil, gas and coal as Moscow's war on Ukraine makes them realise they have to be less dependent on Russia, a draft declaration has showed, but they are unlikely to offer Ukraine the fast EU membership it seeks.

Gathering in France's opulent Versailles palace, the 27 national EU leaders will also look at shoring up their defences and economies.

Russia's February 24 military invasion has shattered Europe's security order that emerged from the ashes of World War Two and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The EU has slapped sanctions of unprecedented severity on Russia for invading its neighbor, including cutting seven Russian banks from the SWIFT transaction system, targeting Moscow ally Belarus and blacklisting Russian state officials and billionaire oligarchs close to the Kremlin.

The bloc still pays hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars every day to Russia, its biggest energy supplier, for more than 40 percent of its natural gas, more than a quarter of oil imports and almost half of its coal.

"We will not let go of Ukraine, and when you look at what will happen in a few years, we will have a Ukraine that's European," Beaue has stated.