Finnish Prime Minister: Finland Can 'Square Circle' of Kaliningrad Problem

The Kaliningrad question will be the main topic of tomorrow's meeting in St. Petersburg between the Russian and Finnish Presidents, according to Finland's main daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The paper pointed to a statement by Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen that his country is ready to make a full contribution to resolving the Kaliningrad problem. The Finnish Prime Minister compared the problem to squaring a circle, but was confident that Finland would be able to do it.

According to the newspaper, 'the Russian President has staked a huge amount of his personal authority on resolving the Kaliningrad problem in a way that is acceptable to Russia,' so the Finnish President 'faces a serious challenge'.

Helsingin Sanomat stressed that 'if Tarja Halonen tries to hide behind the EU's common line in the hope that Putin will come round to Finland's position, then she should be aware that Putin will not accept this and that the meeting will prove fruitless'.