It didn't take long before the US Treasury Department announced that it will impose new economic sanctions against Russia.

It concerns about a hundred companies and individuals with connections to Russia.

Among other things, 278 members of the country's legislative parliament are singled out for having "facilitated Russia's sham votes for the purpose of annexing areas".

At the same time, President Joe Biden says that Russia with its "false" annexation "shows contempt for all peaceful nations".

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says at a press conference that the escalation is the most serious since the war began on February 24.

- NATO will not recognize the areas as Russian.

These areas are Ukrainian.

- If we let Putin win in Ukraine, it would be a disaster for Ukraine and dangerous for us, says Stoltenberg.

New military support

In Scandinavia, Norway, among others, has strongly condemned the annexation and announced that it will grant three billion Norwegian kroner in support to Ukraine.

- Ukraine has the right to defend its country, Russia's annexation does not change that, says Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre at a press conference on Friday.

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson (S) condemns the Russian annexation, calls the staged referendums "a pure farce" and flags for a new sanctions package.

- This will have consequences and an eighth sanctions package will be introduced, something that is currently being discussed within the EU, she says at a press conference on Friday.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu writes on Twitter that she strongly condemns the annexations.

"Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia & Crimea are Ukraine," she writes.

Ukraine applies for NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announces that the country will apply for membership in NATO, reports Reuters.

- It is a process that is in accordance with our values ​​to protect our society, he writes in a post on Telegram.

The European Council condemned the annexation in a statement on Friday.  

"We do not and will never recognize the illegal 'referendums' staged by Russia as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, or the falsified and illegal results in them," the statement reads.