The saturation of the optical absorption in V-doped YAG is investigated. The absorption cross section of tetrahedrally coordinated V3+ ion at 1.08 μm is estimated to be 8.2 × 10-18 cm2, and absorption recovery time of about 5 ns is measured. Using V 3+ :YAG as a saturable absorber passive Q-switching and mode-locking have been achieved for a number of neodymium lasers (LiYF4, YAG, KGd(WO4) at 1.06 μm and 1.34 μm. The shortest and strongest mode-locked pulses were obtained at 1.06 μm from a Nd-KGd(WO4)2 laser and at 1.34 μm Nd-YAIO3. In both cases the trains of ultrashort pulses were observed with single pulses of about 0.3–0.5 ns in duration and up to 1 mJ in energy.Q-switched laser pulses at 1.06 μm were 20–30 ns in duration and 15–20 mJ in energy at flash-lamp pump energy of 30 J.