Mr. Putin also veered close to an admission that Russian soldiers had fought in the war in eastern Ukraine, saying, “We never said there were no people there solving certain questions, including in the military sphere,” but he denied that they were on active duty with the regular army.

“Get a sense of that distinction,” he said.

He even gave a few hints of his closely guarded family life, talking proudly of his two adult daughters, who he said were living in Russia and “taking the first steps of their careers.”

Mr. Putin likes to throw in a few surprises on these occasions, as he did two years ago by announcing the release of an imprisoned oil tycoon, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky. This year, he rose to the defense of Sepp Blatter, the embattled president of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, who is under criminal investigation for corruption, saying Mr. Blatter should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

And he even inserted himself into the Republican presidential primary contest in the United States, speaking highly of Mr. Trump in remarks after the news conference ended.

“There is no doubt that he is a very bright and talented man,” the Russian leader said. “It is not our business to assess his merits; that is up to the U.S. voters. But he is an absolute leader of the presidential race.” In Russian, the word for “bright” has several meanings, including outstanding, brilliant and even gaudy.