US missile tests, Nord Stream 2 and Ukraine: what Putin and the President of Finland in Helsinki talked about

In Helsinki, negotiations were held between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. Upon completion, the leaders held a press conference at which they summed up the meeting.

“Interaction is proceeding at the highest level, through governments, relevant ministries, departments, regions and between public organizations. We spoke today about trade and investment cooperation, ”Putin emphasized.

He also said that more than 7 thousand Finnish companies work in the Russian market. As an example of bilateral cooperation, Putin noted the work on Nord Stream 2, part of which takes place in the exclusive economic zone of Finland.

“We are grateful to Finland for the pragmatic approach to one of the major international European projects, Nord Stream-2.” I can inform you that work has been completed in the Finnish exclusive economic zone on laying this pipeline system, ”said the President of Russia.

Among other promising areas of cooperation, Niinistö named waste management.

“We talked about waste management and here we, the Finns, consider our system, our technologies, the development that we have seen in this area, very positive. We also spoke earlier about the Krasny Bor borough of hazardous waste, possible cooperation in this regard, but now we talked about waste management in general. In this regard, we are expected to visit the regional leaders of Russia in Finland to get acquainted with our achievements, ”he said.

• © Nord Stream 2 / Paul Langrock

Co-operation in the Council of Europe

Note that in the second half of 2019, Finland presides over the Council of Europe. Putin pointed to the fact that Helsinki supported the restoration of the rights of the Russian delegation to the organization’s Parliamentary Assembly.

“We also talked about cooperation through the Council of Europe. We appreciate that the Finnish partners contributed to a positive solution to the issue of the return of the rights of the Russian parliamentary delegation in full and without exceptions, ”the Russian President said.

Niinistö also noted that Finland facilitated the return of Russia to participate in the Council of Europe.

“Finland, for its part, also contributed to resolving this issue, the problem that existed before. It is very important that Russia takes part in those mechanisms and systems for human rights that exist in Europe, ”he stressed.

However, Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia is ready to stop cooperating with the Council of Europe if the organization does not take into account the position of Moscow.

“We are not rushing there. If they don’t want to see us there, we are ready to do without it, ”the Russian leader said.

The situation in Ukraine

The leaders of the two countries also discussed Ukraine. Putin noted that he told Niinistö about the situation in the southeast of this country. According to the Finnish leader, whose visit to this country will take place in a few weeks, progress is being made in the settlement.

“I'm going to visit there in a couple of weeks. As far as I understood, practical initiatives are being implemented, the work is practically being carried out, for my part, of course, I will contribute, support such development, ”he said.

Incident in the Arkhangelsk region

Reporters present at the meeting asked leaders questions about current issues. So, one of them concerned an incident in the Arkhangelsk region that occurred during testing of a rocket engine.

“As I said, the tragedy that occurred in the White Sea and, unfortunately, claimed the lives of our specialists, is work in the military sphere, work on promising weapons systems, we do not hide this ... As for the exchange of information, our respective services work. According to my reports, everything is normal. But there, neighboring states do not record any increase in the background, ”Vladimir Putin explained.

At the same time, the Russian leader agreed with the journalist, who noted that it is important to develop channels for exchanging information about such incidents.

“In place of this, without any exaggeration, tragedy, this incident, both military experts and civilians work,” the Russian president emphasized. “As for security issues, I completely agree with you here, we need to establish an effective system for the exchange of information of this kind.”

American missile tests

During a press conference, one of the reporters asked leaders about testing a cruise missile in the United States that violates the Intermediate-Range Shorter Treaty (INF Treaty), although Washington withdrew from the agreement only on August 2.

“We are disappointed with what we see,” Putin said. “Too fast the Americans tested this missile,” too soon after announcing the withdrawal from the treaty. In this regard, we have every reason to believe that work on this missile, on its "landing" (this is a sea missile), began long before the search for reasons for withdrawing from the treaty. "

Niinistö, speaking of these tests, said that the lack of INF Treaty causes the problems that are most acute in Europe.

“Of course, it is problematic that we are now in a situation where the agreements that were in force before do not apply. And it seems to me that this is most problematic in Europe. And so it would be very important that we could launch new negotiations on arms control and that such negotiations lead to positive results, ”said the head of Finland.

Putin emphasized that Russia has already made attempts to start this dialogue, including with the participation of European countries, but at the moment there are no negotiations on this area.

Separately, the President of Russia noted that the tested missile is a variant of the Tomahawk system, and it was launched from the Mk41 installation, which are located in Romania.

"Her" landed ", adapted launches from the ground. These missiles can be launched from launchers that are already deployed in Romania and should be deployed in Europe. It is enough to change only the software. And I’m not sure that our American friends will inform even the European partners about what software they have in these systems, ”Putin explained.

Thus, new threats arise for Russia, the president noted. He stressed that Moscow will respond to them and intends to ensure its security. “We will take appropriate steps now, in response to these actions. Mirror character, ”Putin added.