Press statements and answers to journalists’ questions following Russian-Finnish talks
July 1, 2016
19:30
Naantali
At Press Conference following Russian-Finnish talks. With President of Finland Sauli Niinistö.
President of Finland Sauli Niinistö (retranslated): Good afternoon! Welcome everyone!
We had a very interesting and constructive conversation. We have so much business together that we are going to continue our discussion during dinner. During our meeting I raised the following problem: we live in a world locked in a vicious circle that is very hard to break.
This applies to the developments in Ukraine and in the Baltic Sea region. There is a heated debate in Ukraine over implementing the Minsk agreements in two areas.
These are security and a political settlement. There is no progress on either of them because they are interdependent and progress on one determines progress on the other. So they form a kind of a vicious circle and there is no forward movement.
As far as I know, serious efforts are being made to guarantee the ceasefire is upheld. Starting from here, the sides can move forward in both areas.
I mentioned the situation in the Baltic Sea region because Baltic countries and some other places are scared of Russia. That’s one side.
The other side is that Russia views NATO as a major threat. This is how a vicious circle emerges. Trust is the key to breaking it. To build it up we should move forward in the right direction even by small steps.
The activities designed to avoid all kinds of adverse incidents or accidents could, perhaps, be one such small step, which is why I raised the issue of aircraft flying with transponders turned off.
We all know that such flights are fraught with certain risks and fairly serious danger. So, I came up with a proposal to reach a joint agreement to have *transponders turned on at all times during flights in the Baltic Sea region.
We also discussed bilateral relations and issues. One such issue is connected with a hazardous waste landfill named Krasny Bor. It is indeed used to store toxic waste, which affects the lives of all the people residing in the Baltic Sea region.
We will continue to discuss these issues at dinner with the participation of our respective environment ministers. We will consider pragmatic, practical steps that we could take. We, in Finland, have a company named Ekokem that has already reviewed these issues. Fortum, which recently acquired Ekokem, is interested in continuing this work.
Also at dinner, we will discuss our trade and economic relations and projects, which are in decline, perhaps due mostly to the international economic situation. Beyond the restrictive measures, there still remains plenty of room to expand these relations and thus counteract the situation in global economy.
In closing, I would like to thank President Putin for a candid and productive conversation.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,
Indeed, we had a very thorough discussion in narrow format. Hopefully, we will continue our talks with the participation of our respective delegations in the expanded format in the same business-like manner.
I reiterate that we consider Finland our priority partner. Our relationship is based on a solid foundation of friendship and neighbourliness. There have been different periods in the history of our relations. As you may recall, Russia helped Finland gain independence and was the first one to recognise its independence, the 100thanniversary of which we will celebrate next year. We continue to maintain political contacts, partner-like dialogue, and active cooperation in the sphere of trade and the economy with our neighbour. However, in the wake of certain events, we are suffering considerable losses in this area. The recently held St Petersburg International Economic Forum, though, confirmed our Finnish friends’ interest in expanding our mutually beneficial economic partnership.
About 7,000 Finnish companies operate in Russia today and many of them are localising their production. Finland’s investment is almost $7 billion l, and Russia’s investment in the Finnish economy is $2.5 billion. We continue implementing major projects, such as the construction of a nuclear power plant with the participation of Russia’s Rosatom in the north-west of Finland. The overall investment exceeds $7 billion.
Finnish companies are actively working in Russia, as I’ve already said. Thus, the aforementioned Fortum concern completed its large-scale $4 billion investment programme to upgrade thermal power stations in Russia’s regions.
We continue working together in shipbuilding. Since 2014 our United Shipbuilding Corporation has owned a Helsinki-based shipbuilding company. Major projects, including high-tech ones, are being carried out there. Sea trials of the world’s first icebreaker operating on LNG and diesel fuel were launched in April.
The President mentioned an environmental project. Indeed, this is an urgent issue and unless promptly resolved, it may become a regional and even an inter-regional problem, which we would very much wish to avoid. We have good relations and an established partnership with Finland in environmental protection.
As for security issues, including those in the Baltic Sea, the President drew my attention to the incidents that are happening there and the situation that has taken shape in the Baltic Sea, and he put forward an initiative to draft a system of trust-building measures to enhance security in the region.
I will remind you that not only Russian aircraft but also aircraft of all NATO countries are flying over the Baltic Sea without switching on identification devices. The number of such flights by NATO over the Baltic Sea is twice that of Russian planes. This is not our invention but statistics.
We agree with the proposal of the President of Finland. Moreover, on my return to Moscow I will instruct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation to put this issue on the agenda of the forthcoming meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels that is due to take place after the NATO summit in Warsaw.
Question: I have a question for both presidents.
Mr Putin, in the three years since you last were here – as you mentioned in the beginning of the meeting – not only the international situation has changed but also the situation in Russian-Finnish trade, which is essentially half what it was.
Despite all the projects you have mentioned, most of them being investment ones, do the presidents have any ideas how to change the situation in the trade sphere, or do we have to await a change in our political relations with the European Union?
I would also like to ask Mr Niinistö one thing. Today, the EU has extended sanctions against Russia. Are the Europeans aware that they could lose access to the Russian market in doing so?
Vladimir Putin: As for the global thawing that has occurred, I think that as Finland is a disciplined and stable partner within European structures, global changes can take place only following fundamental changes in our relations with the EU on this matter.
The damage of mutual restrictions is there, but the decline in our bilateral trade is not so large, it is not half what it was as you said. Finnish exports to Russia have gone down 40 percent and agricultural exports have fallen 72 percent.
In these circumstances, is there any solution without committing a violation? There is – localisation of production on Russian territory, and some Finnish partners do this. For instance, the company Valio has localised 90 percent of its production of foods, which it had previously exported to Russia, on Russian territory.
As to the investment activity that you have mentioned – this is also a solution to minimise the damage from the current state of affairs. There are other, more fundamental decisions. But here you can address London, they will tell you what is needed.
Sauli Niinistö: There are several reasons behind the reduction of our trade and economic cooperation and probably the main one lies in the international economic situation. Naturally, such factors as a drop in oil prices and the ruble exchange rate might have also played a role by affecting purchasing power.
Needless to say, the so-called sanctions are also playing a role. But I would like to make it clear that Finland is disciplined and follows the requirements of the European Union. Finland took part in the elaboration and adoption of these decisions.
Fulfilling the requirements of the Minsk agreements is very important both for trade and for the economy. I’m grateful to my colleague for his detailed thoughts on how to make progress on implementing the Minsk agreements.
Question (retranslated): The issue of security in the Baltic Sea region has already been mentioned but I would still like to ask President Putin about the military situation in this region. After Crimea’s accession to Russia, tensions in this region went up and Russia openly spoke about building up its military presence in this region. So my question is what does this mean in practice and what is Russia after?
Vladimir Putin: I would like to remind you that Russia never provokes tensions. You started with Crimea. It wasn’t Russia that staged a coup d’etat in Ukraine and it wasn’t Russia that threatened the life, health and security of residents of the Crimean peninsula. Crimea’s reunification with Russia was absolutely bloodless – without a single shot or victim, on the basis of the will of Crimean residents and in full conformity with international law.
After supporters of the coup took this step, which I consider an absolute provocation, they took other steps to escalate tensions in other parts of the world, including Europe and the Baltic Sea region. NATO is moving its military infrastructure to our borders.
A missile defence system is being deployed under the far-fetched pretext of countering the Iranian nuclear threat after this threat has been eliminated and a treaty with Iran has been signed. Radar and anti-missile systems aimed at neutralising our nuclear capabilities are stationed in Romania.
It is well known that the Aegis launch system equipped with interceptor missiles are mainly used for middle-range cruise missiles of over two thousand kilometres. And this can be done absolutely covertly, secretly within a few hours, all you need is to change the computer software. This creates an obvious threat to us that nobody is willing to see. Nobody wants to have a dialogue with us on this issue.
Now there is talk about deploying the same system of radar and interceptor missiles in Poland which is in the Baltic Sea region. What are we to do? How can we neutralise these threats? We will have to respond accordingly. Next comes an announcement that NATO’s force in the Baltic countries will be enlarged. The movements of our troops on our own territory are cited as an example of aggressive behaviour whereas NATO drills near our borders for some reason are not treated like that.
We think it is absolutely unfair and contrary to the realities. What should we do in response to NATO’s buildup of forces? Let me remind you that Russia took a decision and executed it: we relocated our troops 1,500 kilometres away from the Finnish-Russian border. And we have not changed anything so far, things are as they were. Meanwhile, NATO forces in the Baltic states are growing. What are we going to do?
The President has voiced proposals on the very first confidence-building steps to prevent conflicts. I have already said that I agree with that. We shall try to initiate a dialogue with NATO at the Brussels summit.
Question: It was reported recently that there are attempts to suspend some more Russian athletes from the Olympics: a rower was found to have doped. And the number of such cases has skyrocketed. I know Russia is conducting its own investigation – investigative agencies, the Prosecutor General’s Office are investigating. But maybe these measure are insufficient. Are there any other ways to defend our athletes, at least the honest ones?
Vladimir Putin:First of all, I would like to say that we should be grateful to our colleagues from the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, and take their reports very seriously. We have always fought and will keep fighting all forms of doping. We hope that the information we receive or find out ourselves will be objective in nature.
We should never rely or make any conclusions based on rumours or mere suspicion. We must get the facts. And our Investigative Committee, the Prosecutor General’s Office are checking and work on obtaining the facts.
Needless to say, it is absolutely wrong to proceed exclusively from the testimonies of people who admit that they committed offences and contributed to the spread of doping because they are the offenders that are to blame for this.
And, second, it is necessary to toughen penalties. I discussed this with members of the Government of the Russian Federation just yesterday. We decided to support tougher legislation and penalties and to adopt a law permitting investigative activities. This law will give our law enforcement agencies the right to conduct operational investigations to uncover cases of doping and its dissemination. I hope the next Duma will support this proposal of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Question (retranslated): A question to President Putin. It seems to us here in Finland that it is Russia that is pushing Finland toward NATO. At any rate, here the prevailing attitude was against NATO but now this issue is being discussed seriously enough. Why is Russia behaving like this? Perhaps you have some specific proposals on enhancing the security of Finns? This question is for President Putin.
And a question for President Niinistö on the intentions of Finland, Britain and the United States to draft a defence cooperation treaty or agreement. Could you please explain what this agreement is and what the intentions are?
Vladimir Putin: We don’t quite understand what could have caused the concern of Finnish citizens. I’ve already said that we made a decision and carried it out by withdrawing all our armed forces to the depth of 1,500 km from the Finnish borders. Despite all the tensions in the Baltic Sea region or other parts of the world, we have done nothing that could have prompted the Finns to worry. Incidentally, we are doing this in recognition of Finland’s neutral status. Imagine if Finland joins NATO. In this case the Finnish troops will cease to be fully independent or sovereign. They will become part of NATO’s military infrastructure, which will emerge overnight on the borders of the Russian Federation.
Do you think we are going to continue acting like that: since we have withdrawn our troops to a depth of 1,500, they will stay there? But in any event we’ll respect whatever choice the Finnish people make. It is up to them how to guard their independence and ensure their security. We cherish and respect Finland’s neutral status but this issue is not up to us. Paraphrasing a statement by one of my Finnish friends, I could say that NATO would probably be happy to fight Russia to the last Finnish soldier. Is this what you need? We don’t, we don’t want this but you decide for yourselves what you need.
Sauli Niinistö: There is nothing dramatic in the news on these agreements between Finland and Britain and Finland and the United States. They are essentially technical and simply specify the current status.
That said, I would like to recall the main components of Finland’s defence, its defence policy. The first support of our defence is independent defence and our strong will to protect and defend our country. In Europe Finland has the strongest will to defend itself and in addition we are also developing our own independent defence capabilities.
We are cooperating with different countries and organisations, including Western ones, and are bolstering cooperation with Sweden in the field of defence. We are doing the same as part of the European Union. Finland is NATO’s partner and we also maintain bilateral contacts and cooperation with the United States, especially as regards military technology. At the same time we are working with our Eastern partners, including Russia. We want to keep open all our communication channels and we are developing cooperation with Russia in many industries, particularly in the civilian sector.
And the fourth support or component is the protection offered by international agreements, treaties and organisations.
As a small country, Finland supports and observes the principles that have been elaborated in these international bodies.
Thank you everyone.
*transponder
a device for receiving a radio signal and automatically transmitting a different signal.
The line includes power supplies, transmitters, optical amplifiers, digital transponders , return-path receivers, fiber-node platforms and Ethernet access devices.