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Viewing cable 05HELSINKI873, PUTIN VISITS FINLAND

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05HELSINKI873 2005-08-04 05:11 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Helsinki
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 000873 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NB, EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/02/2015 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR PHUM RS EN FI
SUBJECT: PUTIN VISITS FINLAND 
 
Classified By: POLOFF DAVID ALLEN SCHLAEFER FOR REASON 1.4 
(B) AND (D) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  Ambassador Earle I. Mack met privately 
with Jarmo Viinanen, Chief of Staff to Finland's President 
Tarja Halonen, on August 3.  Viinanen briefed the Ambassador 
about Russian President Putin's 2 day visit to Finland for 
meetings with Halonen.  Viinanen said that both sides 
emphasized Finnish-Russian cooperation and partnership and 
purposefully stayed away from potential areas of 
disagreement.  Agreement was reached to open a new border 
crossing and explore additional options to facilitate 
cross-border traffic;  Russia placed importance on all 8 of 
the border checkpoints being fully operational.  Putin did 
not pressure the Finns about their visa regime.  Putin told 
Halonen that he was particularly angry with and "felt 
betrayed" by Estonia for inserting negative language into the 
text of the border agreement, and that Russia was now in no 
hurry to continue the process.  At a press conference, 
Halonen defended the Estonians and Latvians when Putin 
criticized their treatment of ethnic Russian minorities. 
Finally, Putin toured the Turku Science Park and expressed 
general interest in the facilities. 
 
 
 
Short on Substance, Long on Symbolism 
------------------------------------- 
2.  (C)  Viinanen told the Ambassador that Putin's visit was 
designed to highlight the positive aspects of the 
Finnish-Russian bilateral relationship.  Neither side wished 
to discuss in detail outstanding issues or areas of 
disagreement, and this non-confrontational agenda had been 
agreed upon prior to the trip to avoid any unpleasant 
surprises.  For their part, the Finns were eager to use the 
visit to downplay any suggestions of tension in the bilateral 
relationship, highlight Finnish-Russian cooperation, and 
follow up on Halonen's successful visit to Moscow during the 
World War II celebrations earlier this year.  Viinanen 
characterized the meetings as friendly and as being "between 
two equals,' and said that Halonen and Putin had a strong 
personal relationship at this point.  Most of the discussions 
took place at Kultaranta ("Gold Beach"), the President's 
official summer residence on the coast near Turku.  Halonen 
and Putin also took a private (with 2 interpreters only), 
one-hour evening cruise. 
 
 
Bilateral Border Issues 
----------------------- 
3.  (C)  Viinanen said that both Halonen and Putin pointedly 
stayed away from likely irritants.  Specific agreement to 
open a new border crossing to facilitate commercial and other 
traffic was reached, as was general agreement on the need for 
expedited rail and bus routes.  Putin said that it was 
important for all 8 existing border checkpoints to be open 
and fully operational.  Finnish and Russian officials will 
schedule a follow-up meeting to explore options.  Viinanen 
said that the often contentious issue of visa policy was 
mentioned only in passing, and that Putin did not pressure 
Halonen about Finland's refusal rate or processing 
requirements.  Halonen, for her part, remarked that Finland 
had a very flexible visa regime, and that it was much easier 
for a Russian to get a visa to visit Finland than it was for 
a Finn to obtain a visa to visit Russia.  Putin invited 
Halonen to visit the opening of a wastewater purification 
plant in September in St. Petersburg, and Halonen said that 
she would most likely do so. 
 
 
Baltic Border Issues 
-------------------- 
4.  (C)  The Finnish media reported that Halonen strongly 
defended the Baltic countries to Putin against charges that 
they mistreated their ethnic Russian minorities.  However, 
Viinanen said that the "occasion to criticize the Balts" on 
the minorities issue never came up in Putin's discussions 
with Halonen, and that it was only in response to a 
reporter's question at the final press conference that Putin 
made such critical remarks, prompting Halonen to come to the 
Baltic countries' defense.  On the general issue of the 
Estonian and Latvian border agreements, Putin told Halonen 
that he was angered by the Estonian Parliament's "betrayal" 
of his hard work.  Putin told Halonen that he had personally 
decided to sign the agreements and push them through the 
ratification process-- in the face of strong domestic 
opposition-- before the Estonians had made their unhelpful 
changes to their agreement's preamble.  He said that he 
privately understood the political dynamic that compelled 
them to do so, but that this did not change his opinion or 
"alter the reality of the situation."  Putin opined to 
Halonen that the Latvians were "more honest" about the 
agreements, and in general he seemed to have a more positive 
assessment of the dialogue with Latvia than with Estonia. 
However, he said that Russia would wait before concluding any 
agreements at this point. 
 
 
S and T, and English 
-------------------- 
5.  (C)  Putin toured the Turku Science Park with Finnish 
officials and, according to Viinanen, "looked around with 
interest."  There were no Russian S and T officials with him, 
however, and he did not indicate particular interest in any 
specific project or ask to visit any of the Russian companies 
in the area.  Contrary to some media reports, he did not do 
any sightseeing other than the boat cruise with Halonen and 
the stay at the historic Kultaranta.  His wife did not 
accompany him.  Putin and Halonen apparently used translators 
during their discussions, but Viinanen told the Ambassador 
that Putin spoke some English with Dr. Pentti Arajarvi 
(Halonen's husband) for about one hour while the two took a 
sauna together on the first night of the visit.  Arajarvi 
reported that Putin's English was not strong, but that he was 
obviously working hard on it, and that they were able to 
communicate satisfactorily. 
 
6.  (C)  Comment:  For a two day visit that included 8 hours 
of discussion, the meetings--  at least according to 
Viinanen--  appear to have been remarkably unsubstantive. 
Journalists raised some difficult issues at the press 
conference, but troublesome areas such as regional 
environmental degradation, Russian overflight of Finnish 
territory, transnational problems like TIP, etc., seem to 
have been lightly touched on, if at all.  Putin was 
appreciative of Halonen's decision to attend the VE Day 
celebrations in Moscow and her public remarks at the time, 
and it seems the current visit may have been designed to 
reciprocate.  Halonen's foreign policy acumen has been 
questioned recently, as has the state of Finnish-Russian 
bilateral relations;  with next January's election looming, 
Putin's visit afforded the President an opportunity to share 
the stage with a major world leader and reassure Finns that 
all is well on her watch with Finland's most important, 
difficult, and dangerous neighbor. 
 
MACK