Finland is ready to host Arctic summit involving Putin and Trump - Finnish Prime Minister

TROMSO (NORWAY), January 23. /TASS/. Finland is ready to host the Arctic summit with participation of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila told TASS. "It is true. We are ready to host the Arctic summit if the political situation is ready for that, but it depends on the situation and conditions in the political world. We don’t know it yet," he said. When asked if the Finnish authorities have received any signals from the US or Russia he said: "Not yet." In December 2016, high ranking Finnish diplomat Aleksi Harkonen said that the Russian and US leaders could meet at the Arctic summit in Finland already in the first half of 2017. Finland will hold a term of rotating presidency in the Artic Council from May 2017 through 2019. The Arctic Council was established in 1996 in compliance with the Ottawa declaration and is an intergovernmental forum contributing to cooperation in that region. It embraces the countries of Northern Europe, Russia, the U.S., and Canada. Read more