MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto will hold talks in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Tuesday during Niinisto's working visit to Russia.
Putin and Niinisto will discuss key bilateral issues, including trade and economic cooperation, as well as a number of topical regional and international matters such as Ukraine, Syria and the relations between Russia and Europe, according to the Kremlin.
The last meeting of the Russian and Finnish presidents took place on July 16 following Putin's first full-fledged summit with US President Donald Trump in Helsinki.
At the meeting with Niinisto in July, Putin expressed his satisfaction about the development of the Russian-Finnish relations, stressing the increase of bilateral trade by 37 percent last year and by another 26 percent in the first six months of 2018.
The Russian and Finnish leaders also held a telephone conversation on March 22 following Putin's reelection as the Russian president. The parties discussed the Russian-Finnish bilateral relations and key international issues.
The Russian president paid a visit to Finland in late July last year when the nation celebrated the 100th anniversary of its independence.
There are a number of issues of common concern between Moscow and Helsinki, including the Krasny Bor dump site in Russia's Leningrad Region as well as projects in the Baltic Sea region such as the Northern Dimension initiative, an instrument of cooperation between the European Union, Russia, Norway and Iceland. The initiative has been halted due to sanctions.
