Moscow is scrambling to respond to a bombshell World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report released this week that alleged systematic doping in Russian athletics, including by suggesting a foreign specialist could take over its discredited testing laboratory.
Athletics' world governing body, the IAAF, has given Russia until Friday to come up with answers to the allegations, and Putin met sports chiefs in Sochi, the Black Sea home of the 2014 Winter Olympics, ahead of the deadline.
The stakes could not be higher for Russia, which risks being excluded from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio over damning allegations of corruption and "state-sponsored" doping.
"We must do everything in Russia to rid ourselves of this problem," Putin said in footage shown on Russian television of the meeting – ironically called to discuss the country's preparations for Rio 2016.
"We must carry out our own internal inquiry," he said, telling sports officials to show "the most open and professional cooperation with international anti-doping authorities".
