"I want to emphasize once again — we have always said this — there has never been, there is no, and I hope there never will be a state support system for doping in Russia," Putin said.
"On the contrary, there will only be a fight against doping," he said at a meeting on preparations for the Winter Universiade 2019 in Russia's Krasnoyarsk.
The Russian government should heed the advice of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) commission despite its shortfalls, Russian President said.
Last week, International Olympic Committee chief Christophe De Kepper cited WADA as saying at a recent meeting in Lausanne that in many cases the evidence provided in the McLaren report on Russian doping "may not be sufficient to bring successful cases."
"The most important thing is that we must listen despite these failures in the work of the independent commission. We should listen to what it has done and the result of its work," Putin said.
Speaking at a meeting on preparations for the Winter Universiade 2019 in Russia's Krasnoyarsk, he nonetheless said "we must recognize that we have identified credible cases of doping."
"This is absolutely unacceptable, and this means that the existing and existing-until-now Russian control system over doping has not worked, and it is our fault. We must say so directly and recognize it," Putin stressed.
Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he hopes a strict and effective anti-doping control system would be set up in the country with the involvement of foreign experts.
"I hope that, with the help of our independent experts and with the help of involved foreign experts, a strict, efficient and effective system for the fight against doping would be set up," Putin said at a meeting on preparations for the Winter Universiade 2019.
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