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Putin, Finnish president to discuss EU-Russia ties on July 1 — Kremlin

Despite the current crisis, Russia and Finland have a significant trade turnover and a range of promising projects of cooperation

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Russian President Vladimir Putin, March 22, 2016 Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Russian President Vladimir Putin, March 22, 2016

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the relations of the European Union with Russia and the issues of Europe’s development with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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Putin will arrive in Finland on a working visit. Despite the current crisis, Russia and Finland have a significant trade turnover and a range of promising projects of cooperation, Peskov said.

"There is certainly a mutual interest in exchanging views on the topical issues of the European development, the relations between Europe and Russia in general, the current crisis situations in the region that somehow affect the environment in which our countries live," he said.

"Finland is one of our closest partners," Peskov said. "Of course, in contacts with Finland we always discuss the dimension of the Russia-EU relations. The working visit will take place in the framework of the continuing dialogue and a regular exchange of views," he said.

The agenda for the visit includes a conversation between Putin and Niinisto in a narrow format, talks during a working lunch and a joint press conference of the two presidents. No bilateral documents are expected to be signed.

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