Office of the President of the Republic
Press Release 18/2015
23 April 2015
President of the Republic Sauli Niinistö held a telephone discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the evening of Thursday 23 April. The discussion was conducted on Finland’s initiative.
The issues discussed were the Ukraine crisis, Iran, the development of the EU’s relations with Russia, Arctic cooperation and bilateral relations between Russia and Finland. President Niinistö emphasised the necessity of fulfilling the terms of the Minsk Agreement. As one of the OSCE monitoring mission’s chief supporters, Finland regards the mission as a key factor in ensuring that the Agreement holds. With respect to the Iran nuclear programme negotiations, President Niinistö stressed the importance not only of their outcome, but also of close international cooperation between the various parties during the negotiation process. In addition, the presidents agreed to remain in contact with one another.