"There is no such need today," Putin told a televised meeting of Russian war correspondents and military bloggers on Tuesday when asked about another mobilisation after last year declaring what he cast as a "partial mobilisation" of 300,000 reservists.
Putin said the defence ministry had no need for another wave of mobilisation.
"Some public figures say we need to get one million or two million," Putin said.
"It depends on what we want."
"Should we return there?" Putin said of Kyiv, which Russian troops failed to take in the early stages of what Russia calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Putin also said Russia needed to fight enemy agents and improve its defences against attacks deep inside its own territory but said there was no need to follow Ukraine's example and declare martial law.
"There is no reason to introduce some kind of special regime or martial law in the country," Putin said.
"There is no need for such a thing today."
Ukraine's large-scale counter-offensive began on June 4 and has not been successful in any area, Putin said, adding that Ukrainian human losses were 10 times greater than Russia's.
Ukraine has lost more than 160 of its tanks and 25-30 per cent of the vehicles supplied from abroad, he said, while Russia had lost 54 tanks.
Reuters could not independently verify his assertions.
Putin also said Ukraine had deliberately hit the Kakhovka dam on June 6 with HIMARS rockets supplied by the United States, a step he said had also hindered Ukraine's counteroffensive efforts.
Russia's goals in Ukraine might evolve with the situation but their fundamental character will not change, Putin said.
UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi visited Kyiv on Tuesday where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy before travelling to Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant near where the huge river dam was destroyed last week.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday it needed access to a site near the plant to check water levels after the reservoir lost a large portion of its water because of the destruction of the Kakhovka dam downstream.
Both sides have accused each other of sabotaging the dam, leading to catastrophic flooding.
Russian forces captured the hydroelectric dam and the nuclear plant in southern Ukraine shortly after their February 2022 invasion.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant uses a cooling pond to keep its six reactors from potentially disastrous overheating.
Ukraine's nuclear energy company said on Tuesday that the level of the pond was stable and that the water was high enough.
As of Tuesday morning, the water level stood at 16.67 metres, which Energoatom said was "quite enough to meet the needs of the station".
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Grossi said there was no immediate danger but that it was a "serious situation".
"It is a step in the wrong direction," he said.
"It is yet another step into the weakening of the safety net that one has in any nuclear power plant."
Grossi said his visit to the facility, Europe's largest, on Tuesday evening would provide a more accurate assessment of the risk.
The Kakhovka reservoir was normally used to refill the pond but cannot do so now because of its falling water level, Ukrainian nuclear authorities have said.
Instead, the pond, which is separated from the reservoir, can be replenished using deep underground wells, they said.
The water in the pond is also expended very slowly because the reactors are not producing power and water does not evaporate quickly during the cooling process.
Grossi also said he was "very concerned" that the nuclear plant could be caught in Ukraine's counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory.
He added that there was no sign Russian forces had moved heavy military equipment to the site but that his visit would aim to clarify that.
