His comments which Putin made at his annual news conference in Moscow on Tuesday arrived ahead of the start of UN-sponsored negotiations between Kosovo and Serbian leaders on a final status of Kosovo, which is scheduled for late February.
The Russian president was quoted by Reuters as saying that independence for Kosovo could cause problems for provinces such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which gained de facto independence from Georgia in the early 1990s and are now propped up by Russia.
"If someone considers that Kosovo can be given full state independence, then why must we refuse this to the Abkhazians or South Ossetians," Putin said.
"I do not want to say that Russia will immediately recognise Abkhazia or South Ossetia as independent states, but such precedents exist," he said.