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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues, friends, welcome to Arkhangelsk.

I would like to thank you once again for accepting our invitation. Your participation in these discussions on the Arctic’s development is extremely important because we are all Arctic countries and this kind of open and free discussion creates an atmosphere of trust and creates conditions for resolving the region’s development issues.

Of course, we also have the opportunity today to discuss our bilateral relations.

We are very happy to see you.

President of Finland Sauli Niinisto (retranslated): Thank you very much. It was with pleasure that we have come here. It is very important that you, Vladimir, support discussion and dialogue on the Arctic, which is a focus of attention now. Finland will soon take on the presidency in the Arctic Council, and all that we take away from here, from this forum, will help us in our further work.

There are also many bilateral issues that it would be useful to discuss. As always, I would be keen to know and hear your view of the world.

Thank you very much for the invitation.

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