Niinistö, Putin discuss EU-Russia tie, EC membership

President Sauli Niinistö and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday discussed various bilateral and international issues such as Russian membership in the Council of Europe and relation between European Union and Russia.

At a meeting before the plenary session of the 5th International Arctic Forum at Saint Petersburg in Russia, they also expressed satisfaction over the positive bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries, according to the Finnish and Russian president offices.

One of the topics discussed was the continuation of Russian membership in the Council of Europe, according to a news release issued by the Finnish president office.

Finland is currently holding the Presidency of the Council of Europe.

“The majority of Europe thinks that it would be good if Russia did not leave the Council. Russian NGOs seem to agree. I would say that President Putin gave a very clear signal that he also thinks Russia should remain in the Council, but he also said that Russia should have full rights, which is currently not the case. At least the stalemate has been broken,” said Niinistö to Finnish media about the meeting.

As regards the relations between the European Union and Russia, Putin wishes for positive development, said Niinistö.

Niinistö termed the bilateral relations between the two neighbouring countries as positive and pointed out that Finland issued largest number of visas to Russian citizen, said a news release issued by the office of Russian President.

“Yesterday, I visited our Consulate General here in St Petersburg. This consulate issues the largest number of visas to Russian citizens of all our consulates,” said the President office website quoting Niinistö as saying.

“When I heard this, I recalled a statement you made several years ago when I said that many Russian tourists come to Helsinki and Finland. You expressed hope that they behaved well. I can probably make the same statement now: I hope that Finnish tourists also behave well,” the Finnish President added.

Putin said they are very happy to see the Finnish President in St Petersburg, this time during work on Arctic matters pointing out that Finland now heads the Arctic Council and has accomplished a great deal in the past 18–24 months.

“I would also like to note that our bilateral relations continue to develop steadily. We maintain contacts at the level of presidential executive offices, governments and parliaments. This has an impact on trade, which continues to grow,” said the President office website quoting Putin as saying.

Niinistö thanked Putin for his words regarding Finland’s presidency of the Arctic Council.

“I believe we have managed to make the Arctic region more prominent on the world map over these years. This is what we have worked for. I believe that the Arctic region is interesting for the entire world, and that dialogue conducted along these lines at the Arctic Council can serve as a model or example for other parts of the world,” Niinistö added.