Moscow, Sep 22 (IANS): Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia's banks should continue operating in Ukraine and help the country remain economically reliable and stable, despite troubled relations between the two countries.

"No doubt, this work should be continued, first of all, because Russian financial institutions account for over 30 percent of the Ukrainian banking sector," Putin told Russia's VTB bank head Andrei Kostin.

The bank's CEO reported that the VTB, the second largest bank in Russia, had lost 26 billion rubles ($670 million) in Ukraine since the start of 2014, according to Xinhua.

Kostin added that the loss "will double by the end of the year" as the unsettled Ukraine crisis had sharply loosened payment discipline and exposed the bank's offices and employees to frequent attacks and threats.

Putin said Moscow was not interested in hurting Ukraine's economy by withdrawing from that country's financial sector, as he noted the "partner-like" relations between Russian and Ukrainian central banks.

But Putin warned Russian corporate borrowers that they must be soberly aware of the geopolitical risks and not to expect the state to rush to rescue them unconditionally.