HELSINKI, March 3. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a series of meetings on Tuesday in the capital of Finland, where he arrived on a working visit.
Despite the short duration of the trip, his schedule will be quite tight. Lavrov will hold detailed talks with his Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto, who retained his post in the new government of Finland. In addition, Lavrov will hold a separate meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, it is expected that at the upcoming meeting the ministers will "discuss in a traditional, interested and open manner" topical issues on the bilateral and regional agenda, as well as exchange views on international issues.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, a distinguishing feature of Russian-Finnish relations is a regular, intense political dialogue at the highest and highest levels. The leaders of the two countries regularly conduct telephone calls, and their meetings are usually held twice a year. Last time, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a working visit to Finland last August. Close interaction is also supported by foreign affairs agencies.
Despite the fact that last year there was a slight decline in cooperation between the two countries, Russia ranks third among Finland’s trading partners.
Around 900 Finnish companies work in the Russian market today. Cooperation is developing in the energy, transport, and environmental sectors. Russia has developed a project for the construction of the Hanhikivi-1 nuclear power plant in Finland with the participation of Rosatom State Corporation. In addition, Helsinki expressed interest in implementing the project for the construction of a high-speed Moscow-Helsinki highway.
Today, Finland remains one of the few countries that are neutral in relation to both Russia and the United States. Perhaps for this reason, the capital of Finland has repeatedly become the venue for Russian-American meetings. Therefore, in July 2018, it was the venue for the first full-format meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the American leader Donald Trump.
Moreover, Finland does not belong to military alliances, but the country still has the option of joining NATO, depending on changes in the international security situation. At the same time, according to the latest opinion polls, only about 20% of the country's population speaks for Finland’s accession to the alliance, and about half are against it. Such indicators have remained stable for more than ten years.
