Finland, Russia for addressing environmental problems

President Sauli Niinistö and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday agreed to extend cooperation between Finland and Russia to address environmental problems.

The presidents of the neighbouring countries met in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, Russia where they also discussed various issues including Syria, Ukraine, security of the Baltic Sea and EU-Russia relations, said an official press release.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting Putin also said that Russia is the optimal natural gas supplier to European markets given the amount and distance of Russian supplies.

News agency Xinhua adds: Russia is ready to compete with any gas suppliers as Russian supplies are the most advantageous to European countries, Putin said following talks with visiting Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

Putin said that the volumes of natural gas consumption in Europe are rising and Russia had to increase shipments to the European Union by nearly 13 percent last year.

At the same time, Europe's own gas resources in Norway and Britain are dwindling, which has been proven by experts, he said.

Russia is building the Nord (North) Stream 2 gas pipeline by linking Russia and Germany via the Baltic seabed, bypassing Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other eastern European and Baltic countries.

Washington claimed that the construction of the pipeline will make European countries dependent on Russia, while Moscow said that in reality the United States aimed to boost its liquefied natural gas exports to Europe.

At talks last week in Germany, Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed that the Nord Stream 2 project must not be politicized.