"I see no violations here. Under Article 51 of the UN Charter, states can individually or jointly rebuff an aggression. It does not say that this aggression should come from one state against the other," Putin said during a Web cast.
Putin said he hoped the Russian parliament's upper chamber would endorse a draft law Friday giving the country's president the right to use the armed forces and secret services abroad to fight international terrorism.
He also said after the September 11 terrorist attacks the UN Security Council allowed the United States to strike back at the aggression of international terrorists.
"Why Russia cannot be given this right? We believe that we have already been granted it," Putin said.
He said if Russia had to use special services overseas there would be no violations of the country's constitution or the international law.
"This is countering aggression by the means that a country considers possible to protect its interests and interests of its citizens," he said.