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Mr Putin praised the role of Ms Halonen in strengthening Russian-Finnish relations and expressed hope that Moscow and Helsinki would preserve their positive achievements of previous years.

Mr Putin and Ms Halonen discussed bilateral relations, Russia’s cooperation with the European Union, the situation in the Baltic region, implementation of the EU’s Northern Dimension programme, and the situation in the Balkans.

The one-to-one talks ran for three times as long as scheduled. Mr Putin opened talks between the two countries’ delegations by stressing that Russia maintained and would continue to maintain good relations with Finland both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Union.

At the final news conference, Mr Putin said that no territorial disputes existed between Russia and Finland, and that the matter had been decided and closed once and for all. The President expressed his fear that discussions on the territorial issue might spoil the good relations established between the two countries over the past few decades.

He stressed that Russia valued its ties with Finland and proposed to nurture what had been achieved in their bilateral relations.