Russian officers guard as people heading to Red Square to witness the signing of the annexation agreement. (Photo: Reuters)

US President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday that the US will always respect Ukraine's internationally recognized borders and added that Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter.

The US introduced new sanctions against Russia for the annexation of Ukrainian territories. The Council of the Russian Federation and 169 of its members, as well as another 109 deputies of the State Duma, were added to the list of sanctions. The US Department of Commerce also added 57 entities in Russia and Crimea to its US export blacklist.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions illegal and says that occupied land would remain part of Ukraine. The 27 EU member states firmly rejected and unequivocally condemned on Friday the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia.

The UK has banned the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Ms. Elvira Nabiullina, from entering the country, her assets will be frozen if detected. London will add to the list of goods banned from exports to Russia, which will include 700 new categories, of which hundreds are important to the Russian manufacturing sector, which it already imports from the UK for 200 million Pound annually.

Canada also expanded sanctions against Russia. The blacklist is supplemented with 43 names, including the wife of Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the Russian President, his children and a number of businessmen and their family members. Canada's sanctions list added 35 representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk, Zaporozhie and Kherson regions.