MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. The entire framework of large-scale Russian-Finnish cultural cooperation has been suspended, Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov told TASS.

"The full range of cultural and humanitarian cooperation between our countries, which until recently was highly developed, has been put on hold since 2022 on the initiative of the Finnish side. Cultural exchanges and the implementation of joint projects have been paused," the diplomat noted, answering a question about the development of cultural and humanitarian cooperation between the states.

According to Kuznetsov, the Finnish people have been primarily impacted by this. "One could recall the exhibition of works by the great Russian artist Ilya Repin held in Helsinki in 2021 that was immensely popular and became one of the key cultural events of the year," he said.

The Russian ambassador also stressed that the same situation applies to sports, scientific exchanges, and cooperation between educational institutions. "Even basic contacts between people on both sides of the border have become almost impossible due to its closure and the absence of any passenger traffic between our countries. Thousands of families can no longer maintain personal connections with their relatives and friends," the diplomat added.