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Finnish president praises dialogue with Putin as ‘clear and frank’

HELSINKI, July 24. /TASS/. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto says his dialogue with the Russian president is direct and clear, and there aren’t any topics they could not discuss.

"We have met many times, and thanks to these meetings our communication has become rather clear and frank. We can discuss anything," the Finnish president said in an interview with First Deputy Director General of TASS, Mikhail Gusman ahead of a visit to Finland by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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"This time bilateral relations will certainly shift to center-stage, we have seen slight upsurge for the better in the economies of both Russia and Finland," the president said referring to President Putin’s visit due on July 27.

"This means more activity in the economic sector. I will also be curious to learn from President Putin his view on global developments, as a host of events that take place these days," Sauli Niinisto said.

The Finnish president sees "cooperation between ordinary people" among the major spheres of cooperation between the two countries.

"Annually, we fix millions of border crossings. A lot of Russian tourists are again visiting Finland, and their numbers keep growing. And I know that many Finns also like to visit Russia - they visit St. Petersburg, Karelia, go on shopping tours and travel to many places of interest. And in my opinion this cooperation is the most important," he explained.

"But of course we have active relations in the economic sector - well-established mutual trade, and also political contacts, and this is important," the Finnish leader noted.

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