The decision follows a series of banking deals authorized by Putin, including a December decree allowing French bank Natixis to sell its Russian operations.Earlier this month, the Netherlands' ING Groep NV reached an agreement to sell its Russian assets to Global Development JSC, a company owned by a Moscow-based financial investor.Nearly three years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many Western banks remain operational in the country, despite earlier pledges to withdraw.Citigroup Inc. has ceased most corporate banking services in Russia but still holds $9 billion in assets there, according to Bloomberg.The largest Western banks operating in Russia paid €800 million ($857 million) in taxes to Moscow's budget in 2023 — four times higher than before the invasion, according to the Financial Times.Russia's banking sector initially suffered from sweeping Western sanctions, with profits plummeting by 90% in 2022.