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Putin Departs for Finland
Russian President Vladimir Putin left here Sunday for a two-day official visit to Finland, Xinhua reported.
Putin's Finland trip starts from the Finnish city of Turku where he is scheduled to meet Finnish President Tarja Halonen at the Kultaranta summer residence and to hold discussions with representatives of local authorities and business circle.
From Turku, he travels to Helsinki on Sunday evening and holds talks with Halonen on Monday.
Putin also plans to meet with Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, Parliament Speaker Riitta Uosukainen and members of the Finnish business community.
Sergei Prikhodko, deputy chief of the Presidential Office, said Saturday that "no epoch-making breakthroughs" were expected from the visit.
He said it was important for Russia "to exchange opinions with Finland on cooperation with the EU."
Russia has been making intensive preparations for the Russian- EU summit in Brussels early in October, he said.
On the agenda of the visit are cooperation within the framework of the Helsinki-brokered project "Northern Dimension" and European policy in the security and defense fields, he added.
The two countries will sign two bilateral agreements on health care and entrepreneurial activities, as well as two big "promising " contracts with Russia's Norilsk nickel corporation, the Russian Itar-Tass news agency quoted diplomatic sources as saying.
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