Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that producing goods locally to circumvent Western sanctions over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine was not a cure-all and that Russia is looking for new trading partners.

Western nations slapped debilitating sanctions on Russia after the start of the Ukraine campaign in February, including import and export restrictions that have snarled supply chains.

"The substitution of imports is not a panacea," Putin told a group of young entrepreneurs who complained of a lack of hitherto imported goods in their quest to develop vaccines.

"We are not trying to completely replace imports," Putin said. 

Russia "must collaborate with those it is possible to collaborate with".

"But for critically important technologies, we have to have our own know-how," he said. "We are developing them."

Russian authorities in April said they had built three factories in Moscow to produce medicines to make up for the import ban. 

Russia's pharmaceutical industry is heavily dependent on imports.