WEBVTT

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Good afternoon.

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To begin with, I would like to once again say how pleased I am that 

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despite his busy schedule, the President of Russia has 

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found time to visit Finland.

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We had a good and focused conversation,

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though there is still a lot left to discuss later tonight.

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Of course, we talked about Finnish-Russian relations and noted that 

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there are no problems here.

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Many areas of our cooperation, such as bilateral trade,

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including tourism, for example,

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are heading in a positive direction.

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We also see positive developments in other areas.

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With regard to trade and economic cooperation,

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we have joint projects that are being implemented in Finland 

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and Russia, and commercial entities from both countries 

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take part in these projects.

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These projects and this work are on an upwards trajectory.

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We also outlined a number of potentially promising new 

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areas of interaction.

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In particular, we discussed waste management, and we, in Finland,

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believe that our system, our technology and progress 

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in this area are quite positive.

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We also spoke earlier about the Krasny Bor hasardous waste landfill 

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and potential cooperation in this area, but for now,

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we discussed waste management in general.

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In this regard, a visit by regional leaders of Russia in Finland is 

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planned for them to learn more about what we have managed to accomplish.

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When Finland presided over the Arctic Council,

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we paid a lot of attention to combating black coal and soot emissions.

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I am very pleased by what we have just heard from the President,

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namely, that Russia takes finding a solution to this 

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challenge very seriously.

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In early summer, word came that Russia will be fully involved 

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in the work of the Council of Europe in the future.

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Finland contributed to resolving this issue and the problem 

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that existed beforehand.

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It is very important that Russia take part in the human 

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rights mechanisms and systems in Europe.

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We have many times discussed issues and topics related to the Baltic 

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regions, as well as the importance of dialogue in this context.

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It is true that dialogue on issues in this region is badly needed.

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As before, Finland stands ready to offer its services via 

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diplomatic channels if need be.

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We have also had time to discuss Ukraine.

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I am going to pay an official visit in a couple of weeks.

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As I understand, practical initiatives are being implemented 

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and practical work is underway.

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For my part, I, of course, will support such developments.

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My colleague has already promised that tonight we will discuss other 

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topics on the international political agenda;

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of course, we have more than enough of them.

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I fully agree with my colleague’s assessment of the level and character 

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of Russian-Finnish relations.

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There is cooperation at the highest level as well as between our 

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governments, corresponding ministries, agencies,

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regions and public organisations.

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Today we have also discussed trade and investment cooperation.

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Let me remind you that mutual investment has surpassed $7 billion,

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and over 7,000 Finnish enterprises have business contacts 

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with Russian companies. Bilateral trade is growing.

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Large projects are being implemented.

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We thank Finland for its pragmatic approach to a major international 

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European project, Nord Stream 2.

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I can inform you that construction of the pipeline in the Finnish 

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section, in the Finnish exclusive economic zone, was completed today.

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Russia and Finland cooperate closely on environmental protection.

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In September, representatives of about 30 Russian regions will visit 

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Finland to share experience in this sphere.

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We have agreed to expand cooperation on the environment,

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including within the Arctic Council.

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Russian-Finnish humanitarian contacts are also expanding.

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The next, 20th Russian-Finnish Cultural Forum will be held in September 

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in Tula; the Days of Karelia in Finland are planned for next June;

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and the 6th Congress of Sister Cities will be held in Tver.

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Cooperation in science and education is also advancing.

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Under the agreement between the St Petersburg Mining University 

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and the Lappeenranta University of Technology,

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Russian and Finnish scientists will carry out innovative research 

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together in the field of extraction,

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processing and transportation of natural resources.

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Tourist exchange between our countries is as high as ever. About 3.

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5 million Russians visited your country last year,

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and about a million Finnish citizens traveled to Russia.

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We believe that the number of Finns visiting our country will increase 

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markedly after Russia starts issuing electronic visas for St Petersburg 

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and the Leningrad Region to EU citizens on October 1.

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This will be free, without the need to visit a consulate.

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Mr President noted during today’s discussion that there is still 

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the unresolved issue concerning the exchange of information between 

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the relevant departments, but we will work on this.

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Indeed, we have discussed several issues on the international agenda.

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We are interested in a full-scale restoration of relations 

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with the European Union.

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We hope that the new leadership of the EU will also show a positive 

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attitude towards maintaining a mutually beneficial 

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partnership with our country.

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We have also talked about cooperation with the Council of Europe.

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We appreciate that our Finnish partners contributed to a positive 

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decision on restoring the rights of the Russian parliamentary 

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delegation in full and without exceptions.

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We have also touched on the subject of security in the Baltic Sea 

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region. We only discussed it briefly,

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but I think we will have time to talk more about strategic stability 

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and security issues in the world in general.

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I have updated Mr President on the problems in southeastern Ukraine.

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And as Mr President has just said,

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we will have an opportunity to continue our discussions 

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at the working dinner.

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But now I would like to thank Mr President,

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and all of our colleagues for organising this meeting,

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for the invitation and for the warm atmosphere that was created.

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(In Finnish) Kiitos. [Thank you]

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Finland strongly supported the decision to restore Russia’s rights 

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in the Council of Europe, but now the events we are witnessing 

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in Moscow show that Russia does not respect its people’s civil rights.

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Why does Russia not follow the rules set in the Council of Europe? 

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At least part of the Russian population thinks this is happening.

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And another question: where do you, President Putin,

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see yourself in 2025?

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And a question for President Niinistö: what do you think about this?

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Russia respects the human rights and civil rights of its people.

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The events in Moscow and the protests you have mentioned are not unique 

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to us, they happen in the world and in Europe in particular.

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We carefully monitor such events in many European capitals,

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and the events held there under political slogans are much larger 

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and have dire consequences for those who take part in them.

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There are many victims there; thousands of injured demonstrators,

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including heavily injured, and thousands of injured law 

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enforcement officers.

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Speaking about the events in Russia, in Moscow in particular,

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they are occurring in the heat of an election campaign.

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Election commissions rejected several candidates’ applications to run 

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for the Moscow city legislature because these candidates 

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had violated the law.

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In particular, they were supposed to provide lists 

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of voters who support them.

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The election committees found that these lists included people who have 

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passed away, but their signatures were on the signature sheets.

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This is not a mistake, this is falsification.

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There is a lawful way to protect one’s rights: go to court.

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At least one case was ruled in favour of the plaintiff.

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This person’s eligibility to run for the Moscow legislature 

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was reinstated.

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People still have the right to protect their interests 

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at public events and protests.

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There are at least two good examples when protests were organised after 

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the necessary permits were applied for and obtained from the authorities.

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Our law enforcement agencies respond to unsanctioned events in Moscow 

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as they should, like in other European capitals.

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It is important that demonstrators,

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law enforcement officers and government bodies comply with 

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the law in Russia. Those who violate the law will be either fined 

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or criminally prosecuted, in full compliance with Russian law.

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It is too soon to speak about 2024, because it is only 2019.

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Now, regarding our work at the Council of Europe.

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We are not exactly champing at the bit to get there.

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If we are not welcome, we can do without it.

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But then the people you care about so much will not be able to turn 

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to the European Court of Human Rights.

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I do not think this is the best way to build a united 

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Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok.

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We must not be biased towards each other,

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but remain objective about events in our countries and address issues 

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of mutual interest together, including within European institutions.

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I, like many other Finns, I suppose,

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have been following the events in Moscow and many other places,

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as President Putin pointed out,

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on television. Probably it would be too glib to say that, fortunately,

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we do not have these problems, these things do not happen to us.

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However, I would like to note that our administration,

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government institutions and civil society are in contact.

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I believe this is one of the reasons why we do not experience this.

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As for Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe.

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As far as I know, it is Russian civic institutions that think it very 

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important for Russia to stay in this organisation.

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I have a question for both presidents.

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Several days ago, the US tested a missile that was banned 

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in the past by the INF Treaty.

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I know that security is a very sensitive issue for Europeans.

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I would like to ask you if you have discussed or are planning 

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to discuss this new reality during your meeting.

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And another brief question for the President of Finland.

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Currently Finland holds the presidency of the EU.

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If the US wants to deploy such missiles in Europe,

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what will be Europe’s response? Thank you.

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As far as I understand, the US declared it has no plans to deploy this 

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technology in Europe.

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Certainly, it is a problem that currently we find ourselves 

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in a situation when agreements that worked in the past no longer work.

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I think that the problem is felt most acutely in Europe.

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For this reason, it is important to launch new arms control talks 

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and ensure that they have a positive outcome.

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I can say we are disappointed with what we see.

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Obviously, testing a ground-based medium-range missile violates the INF 

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Treaty and aggravates the situation in the word in general 

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and in Europe in particular. I will explain what I mean.

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First of all, the Americans tested this missile too fast,

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too soon after they announced their withdrawal from the treaty.

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In this sense, we have grounds to believe that the work on this missile 

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(on the ‘landing’, as this is a sea missile)

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had begun long before they started searching for a pretext 

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to withdraw from the treaty.

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To tell the truth, I have not heard the Americans saying they do not 

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plan to deploy these missiles in Europe.

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If they did say so, that would be good, of course.

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We have talked about this; I have said this many times,

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and two days ago, I said this in Marseilles.

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I can repeat it here in Helsinki: Russia will not deploy missiles –

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although, of course, we will be working on short-range and medium-range 

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systems like this – unless corresponding missile systems produced 

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in the US are deployed in a given region.

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We have not received any response from our American 

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or European partners so far.

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I am concerned that the tested missile, according to the Pentagon,

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is a Tomahawk, or a sea-based missile.

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It was reconfigured to be land-based.

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These missiles can be launched from existing launchers in Romania 

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or ones that will soon be located in Poland.

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It only requires a change of software.

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I am not sure that our American friends will even inform their European 

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partners about the software they use in these systems.

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For us this means a new threat appearing that we must respond to.

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I agree with the President of Finland that, of course,

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we need a dialogue on these issues. We have no such dialogue so far.

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We will take reciprocal steps regarding these actions.

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We made proposals on such a dialogue some time ago,

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but we will stick to our point of view: we are ready to discuss this 

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with the Europeans and the Americans,

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but we will provide for Russia’s security.

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Russia is a great power, including militarily,

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as President Niinistö noted in his speech yesterday.

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And, of course, military powers are responsible for security.

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Finland is concerned over the events in Arkhangelsk Region,

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a little more than 400 km from the Finnish border.

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A question for President Putin.

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What happened in Arkhangelsk Region,

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in Severodvinsk? What can be done to ensure that events like this do 

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not affect Finland’s security? Perhaps it would be necessary to improve 

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the mechanism for information exchange between Finland and Russia not 

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only on peaceful atomic use, nuclear power plants and civilian 

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facilities, but on closed military facilities as well.

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What further actions must be taken?

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I have already said what happened there.

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Unfortunately, the tragedy in the White Sea took the lives 

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of our experts. This is work carried out in the military sphere,

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work on prospective weapon systems. We are not concealing this.

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The people who were injured or died were performing very 

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important work for Russia’s security.

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The fact that our partners, including the Americans,

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test new systems proves that we have to focus on this.

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I have just answered a similar question.

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We must think about our own security.

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Speaking about information sharing,

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our corresponding services are working.

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According to the reports I have,

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everything is fine. The neighbouring countries did not record any 

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increase in background radiation either.

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This is obvious to everyone; this is objective data,

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everything that is happening can be seen from many 

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kilometres, dozens of kilometres away.

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Both military and civilian experts are working at the site 

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of the incident, the site where this tragedy,

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without exaggeration, took place.

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Of course (and I believe you will understand me)

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, there are certain restrictions on access to information when military 

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matters are at stake.

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However, I fully agree with you on security issues;

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we must establish effective tools and effective system 

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to share such information. I agree with you on this.

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I would like to return to your opening remarks,

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President Putin. You mentioned the implementation of the Nord Stream 

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project and informed us that the section in the Finnish exclusive 

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economic zone was completed.

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And yet the project is still criticised,

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and perhaps you have already tired of this question,

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but don’t you worry that it will not be implemented because 

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of the well-known attacks it faces?

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You know, it does not depend on us;

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or rather, it does not depend only on us, but also on our partners,

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above all our European partners.

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For example, the Americans have convinced their European partners that 

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they have to keep the US military industrial complex busy,

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even though they have their own capabilities in this area.

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If now they convince the Europeans that they also need to purchase gas 

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at increased prices, well, that will be the Europeans’ choice.

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The next step is to subsidise a noncompetitive product on the European 

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market from state budgets. Theoretically,

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we can imagine this. But it seems to me that such demands are redundant 

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even considering the alliance between Europe and the US.

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I think that both sides understand this very well.

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The objective reality is that Europe is interested 

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in getting European gas. I believe the project will be implemented.

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Speaking about Finland and probably Sweden, too,

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these issues are addressed in the context of international law 

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and environmental requirements.

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A comprehensive assessment was made on this basis.