Finland Times

 

Finland and Russia would exert every effort to seek the soonest end to the Ukraine crisis.

The presidents of both the neighbouring countries discussed various issues particularly the Ukraine situation and bi-literal relations at a meeting during the visit of President Sauli Niinistö to Russia on Friday.

Sauli Niinistö  during the meeting held Sochi  added that he hopes to discuss possibilities to settle the Ukraine crisis, stop the negative turmoil and help stabilize the situation.

"We are going to do everything within our power to end the military conflict as soon as possible, establish a dialogue among all the parties concerned and provide relief aid," said Russian President Vladimir Putin .

He added that both countries were seriously concerned about the large- scale military operations and a true humanitarian disaster in southeast Ukraine.

Niinistö said he hoped the relief aid Russia had sent to Ukraine would be the first step in settling the Ukraine crisis and that the Russian relief convoy heading for Ukraine could signal the possibility of strengthening reciprocal trust, which is necessary for the ceasefire in south-eastern Ukraine.

The two presidents also discussed bilateral cooperation and future prospects, including economic interaction to which the two countries pay special attention.

"We practically meet all Finnish needs in natural gas and are reliable suppliers of other energy resources to the Finnish market. Finland, in turn, is one of Russia's key European partners," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Putin as saying.

The Russian president said earlier that Russia sees its partnership with Finland as still "kind and businesslike" despite the sanctions Moscow has introduced on Finnish food imports.

 Western countries' economic sanctions against Russia and counter strikes imposed by Russia will exert significant impact on the Finnish economy. 

"Russia remains Finland's primary trade partner," Putin told his visiting Finnish counterpart.

Niinistö is the first president of a European Union country to visit Russia in an official capacity since the escalation of the Ukraine crisis.

Putin admitted that bilateral trade has fallen by around eight percent lately, which was caused by both political and economic reasons.

Russia's Finnish partners have postponed or cancelled a number of joint events, including a session of the bilateral inter-government commission for economic cooperation, said a report released by the Kremlin ahead of the meeting.

"We are particularly glad to welcome the president of Finland and his colleagues so as to discuss all these problems," Putin said, adding that Finnish businesses have invested a lot in the Russian economy.

Sauli Niinistö said the crisis in Ukraine has negatively affected Russia-Finland relations and triggered "global negative changes."

"Development of our relations has been offset by political events and current new situation," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying.

Russia imposed a one-year ban on food imports from the EU, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway last week in response to Western sanctions on it over the Ukraine crisis.