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Finnish foreign minister to visit Russia June 6 — diplomat

It will be the first visit by the head of the Finnish foreign policy department to Russia since his accession to office in May 2015

Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini EPA/JOEL KARPPANEN

Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini

© EPA/JOEL KARPPANEN

MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini will visit Moscow on June 6 at an invitation from his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed at a briefing Thursday.

"This is the first visit by the head of the Finnish foreign policy department to Russia since his accession to office in May 2015," Zakharova said.

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"We note that bilateral relations of the Russian Federation and Finland have been traditionally characterized by regular and rich political dialogue," she said.

"Our cooperation is of an equal, mutually beneficial and multifaceted nature. This interaction rests upon firm trade and economic ties, joint work to ensure the functioning of the state border between the two countries, dynamic interregional and border cooperation; the keystone is contacts between people," Zakharova said.

She underscored that Moscow and Helsinki constructively interact in the United Nations and other international structures, as well as regional formats in the north of Europe, in Arctic - such as the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Council of the Barents - Euro-Arctic Region, the Arctic Council and the Northern Dimension project.

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