Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that the Russian military operation in Ukraine would continue until all the results that President Vladimir Putin stated were achieved. 

Putin on Monday instructed the country's armed forces to ensure peace in the "Luhansk People's Republic" and the "Donetsk People's Republic" after recognizing their independence. 

He then authorized a "special military operation" on Thursday in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "republics" in the Donbas region.

Putin said in a televised address that the "goal is to protect people who have been subjected to abuse, genocide by the Kyiv authorities for eight years. To this end, we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as bringing to justice those who committed numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation."

Some Western countries and the EU have imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation. In response, Medvedev said sanctions will not change anything, adding that they were imposed due to their political impotence to change Russia's course.

He also noted that Moscow would respond symmetrically to the seizure of money from Russians and companies abroad.

"This will have to be answered quite symmetrically. The arrest of funds of foreigners and foreign companies in Russia according to the country principle," he wrote in a long social media post.

(With input from agencies)