(File photo: hexun.com)

MOSCOW, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that only individual athletes should be punished for doping but not the entire country.

"Any punishment for doping should be individual, and if somebody is caught red handed, then it is absolutely natural and just," Putin said during his annual press conference.

"But if an owerhelming majority of athletes here are 'clean', how sanctions can be applied against them?" he asked.