Former Finnish PM recommends maintaining good relations with Russia
HELSINKI. Sept 17 (Interfax) - Former Finnish prime minister Matti Vanhanen recommends maintaining good relations with Russia.
Vanhanen who met Vladimir Putin when he was the head of Cabinet both in a working environment and at his home in 2010, recalls in Iltalehti that the incumbent Russian president is "a direct and pragmatic person."
"We talked for a long time with him on various subjects in the sauna and as we were fishing. We caught a couple of small fish each. My German is as poor as Putin's English but we coped even without an interpreter," Vanhanen, now the executive director of the Union of Family Farms, recalls.
"There is no sense in starting a tug-of-war with Russia and Putin. Nobody will benefit from that," he said.
"One should remain within the limits of reality and diplomacy. Russia was, is and will remain Finland's neighbor. Finland and Russia have long-standing economic relations which should not be disrupted. Russia's purchasing power is higher than Finland's. This also applies to several other countries," he said.