Vladimir Putin suggests Russia could intervene in LIBYA and YEMEN 'to protect its interest
The Russian president said his priority was to protect citizens living abroad, regardless of where they were.
That could include action to safeguard Russians living in the North African state of Libya, which has been ravaged by violent Islamic extremism since the fall of dictator Colonel Gaddafi.
Speaking at the fifth World Congress of Compatriots in Moscow, Mr Putin said: "People who are not in Russia due to various reasons should be firmly sure: we will always protect your interests.
"Moreover, in difficult and crisis situations, such as in Libya, Syria or Yemen."
Russia has been providing humanitarian aid to Yemen since the outbreak of the civil war in March.
The Arab state has suffered from internal conflict between Saudi-backed separatists and forces loyal to the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi based in the south, and Iran-backed Houthi forces and those loyal to the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Russia is allied to Iran as the main backers of President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict in Syria.
The United Nations (UN) estimates around 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict since March, more than half of them civilians.
It comes as Russia revealed it has pounded a staggering 263 ISIS targets in Syria over the last two days as Putin steps up his bid to wipe out the terror group.
Moscow's jets carried out 81 strikes on targets belonging to ISIS and other militants across Syria, according to the Russian defence ministry.
Russian bombers "destroyed a large fortified location of Islamic State militants," including an air-defence gun and a tank, a defence spokesman said.
A spokesman said the bombers "destroyed a large fortified location" of sick fanatics including an air-defence gun and a tank.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Russin President Vladimir Putin in pictures
Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves Elysee Palace after the Normandy Quartet summit on Ukraine and Syria [EPA]
Russian President Vladimir Putin, enters the Alexadrovsky Hall to head a meeting of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin [AP]
Francoise Hollande, Petro Poroshenko, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin attend a meeting on the Ukrainian crisis as the Elysee Palace in Paris [EPA]
Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande during a summit on Ukraine at the Elysee Palace in Paris [EPA]
Vladimir Putin welcomed by French President Francois Hollande as he arrives at the Elysee Palace for a summit on Ukraine in Paris [EPA]
Vladimir Putin speaks during the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights meeting at the Alexadrovsky hall in the Grand Kremlin Palace [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama shake hands for the cameras before the start of a bilateral meeting at the United Nations headquarters [Kommersant via Getty Images]
Vladimir Putin shakes hands with French President Francois Hollande prior to their meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves the Elysee Palace [Getty Images]
Vladimir Putin talks to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during their meeting at the Normandy Format Summit [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to officers as he attends Russia's large-scale military exercises at Donguzsky Range [Getty Images]
Russian President Putin attends his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow [REUTERS]
A class photo of Vladimir Putin, dated 1960 in St. Petersburg, Russia [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin submerges on board C-Explorer 3 bathyscaphe into the waters of the Black Sea outside Sevastopol [AP]
A class photo with Vladimir Putin dated 1964-65 in Russia [Getty Images]
RUSSIA - President Vladimir Putin lays flowers during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941 near memorials by the Kremlin walls in Moscow [REUTERS]
Vladimir Putin during an election for the NDR Party in 1994 [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted a different stance on Syrian intervention to many of the other leaders at the summit [null]
The Queen receives the President-elect of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, at Windsor Castle in 2000 [PA]
Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1970 [Getty Images]
Russian President Putin meets with women to congratulate them on International Women's Day at the Kremlin in Moscow [REUTERS]
Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, David Cameron, Barack Obama and Francois Hollande at the G8 Venue in Northern Ireland in 2013 [Getty Images]
A class photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin dated 1966 in St. Petersburg, Russia [Getty Images]
Vladimir Putin with his wife lyudmila and daughter Masha, spring 1985 [UIG via Getty Images]
Vladimir Putin signs an agreement about the marketing of inventions. Second Mayor and Senator of Economics of Hamburg Hans-Juergen Krupp in 1993 [ullstein bild via Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov in August 1999 [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin in 1999 [UIG via Getty Images]
Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin in September 1999 [UIG via Getty Images]
Inaugeration of Vladimir Putin as the new president of the Russian Federation at the St. Andrew hallf of the grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow as former president Boris Yeltsin looks on in May 2000 [UIG via Getty Images]
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair greets Russian President Vladimir Putin on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in April 2000 [Getty Images]
President of Russia, Vladimir Putin in the cockpit of an su-27 fighter jet which he flew to Grozny in Chechnya in March 2000 [UIG via Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with a Russian officer as he presents a gift of an ornamental hunting knife in Guderme in 2000 [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the opening ceremony for the Year 2000 celebrations in Moscow [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin wears a Navy cap during a visit to Severomorsk, where Naval exercises took place in 2000 [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets U.S. President Bill Clinton June 4, 2000 in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin Putin [Getty Images]
Vladimir Putin President of Russia in 2000 [UIG via Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve of his visit to Germany in September 2001 [UIG via Getty Images]
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland in 2013 [The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Imag]
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets British Prime Minister David Cameron during the 2014 G20 Summit held in Brisbane, Australia [Getty Images]
President Vladimir Putin of Russia shakes hands with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany during their meeting in the Barriere Normandy Hotel in June 2014 [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande in Feb 2015 in Moscow [Getty Images]
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