Kremlin shrugs off planned new EU sanctions on Russian banks

MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - ‌The Kremlin ​on ​Thursday shrugged off the prospect of new European Union sanctions against its banks, saying ‌they had already been operating under sanctions ⁠for a long time and this had not stopped them ‌from making a profit.

The ‌EU has proposed a new package of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine, heavily targeting ​the country's banks and crypto networks in an effort to weaken its financial system.

"Our ⁠largest banks have long been under sanctions. This does not prevent the ​banks from earning large profits, developing, maintaining absolute stability," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told ​journalists, when asked about the ‌sector's ability to weather new restrictions.

Peskov highlighted Wednesday's comments by President Vladimir ⁠Putin about the overall economic situation being under control.

"The same can be said about the banking sector. Our ⁠central bank has repeatedly spoken about this; it is monitoring ​the situation quite closely and taking the necessary measures to maintain this stability," he said.

Sanctions, high interest rates, and ‌war spending have taken a toll on Russia's $3 trillion economy, which contracted by ‌0.3% in the first quarter, marking its first ⁠quarterly decline since early ‌2023.

(Reporting by Dmitry ​Antonov, Writing by Felix Light and Alessandra Prentice, Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Tomasz ‌Janowski)

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