MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. The West did not expect that Russian banks would overcome the difficulties created from outside, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with VTB CEO Andrey Kostin.

"Our ill-wishers apparently did not expect that the Russian banking sector would go through all the difficulties that are created from the outside in this way," the President said, commenting on Kostin’s words that, despite the Western "lawlessness" directed against VTB, the bank feels good.

"They didn’t take into account the obvious things that a bank is not just a box where money is stored, but it is part of the economy. The banking sector reflects the state of the economy as a whole," Putin said.