RF, Finnish leaders in phone talk discuss Petersburg visit plans.

MOSCOW, March 21 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on
Saturday had a telephone talk with his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen
on the initiative of the Finnish side, the Kremlin press service said.
Halonen told Medvedev about the plans for her trip to St. Petersburg
at the invitation of Governor Valentina Matviyenko. During the visit, on
the initiative of the Finnish president and the prime minister, a joint
meeting will be held with the participation of Russian Premier Vladimir
Putin with Finnish business leaders. Both sides expressed confidence that
the meeting with business circles would give a new impetus to investment
cooperation and the whole range of bilateral trade and economic ties.
The two leaders also discussed other issues of Russia-Finnish
relations. They noted the important role of cooperation in the
humanitarian sphere. Halonen supported Medvedev's initiative to establish
cooperation between the ministries of justice and social insurance of the
two countries and other departments to create a legal mechanism meeting
high international criteria to ensure settlement of humanitarian issues
and developing cooperation in the spirit of friendship and mutual
understanding characteristic of bilateral relationship.
The Russian government press service reported earlier that Putin and
Halonen would hold a joint meeting with a group of leading Finnish
businessmen in St. Petersburg on March 22.





.Russian aeromobile hospital concludes work in Chile.





SANTIAGO, March 21 (Itar-Tass) -- The aeromobile hospital of the
Russian Emergencies Ministry (EMERCOM) on Sunday concludes its work in
Chile where it provided medical care for people injured in the series of
powerful earthquakes, the head of the group of Russian rescuers, Salavat
Mingaleyev, told reporters on Saturday.
Forty five doctors and Tsentrospas rescue centre specialists, seven
doctors from the Russian disaster medicine centre and EMERCOM
psychologists worked for a week in the area of the Soltero-del-Rio
hospital in Santiago. During the period, the Russain specialists rendered
medical aid to 130 people and performed 42 surgical operations. The
psychologists provided care for almost 200 affected people.
The decision to conclude the work was taken with mutual agreement of
the Russian and Chilean sides, Mingaleyev said.
On Saturday, Russian rescuers at the hospital expressed appreciation
with diploma presenting to compatriots who helped the Russian doctors in
translation from Russian into Spanish.
Two EMERCOM planes, aboard which the aeromobile hospital and the group
of rescuers arrived here, will fly out from Santiago early on Monday
morning.





.Next ISS crew to leave for Baikonur on Sunday.





MOSCOW, March 21 (Itar-Tass) -- The main and backup crews of the next
ISS long expedition leave this Sunday for Baikonur where they will wait
for the Soyuz spacecraft launch.
They are planned to depart after 11:00 Moscow time, and before the
time they will meet with reporters, the press secretary of the cosmonauts
training centre, Irina Rogova, told Itar-Tass
The crews as usual will be carried by two planes to Baikonur from
Chkalovsky airport.
Russians Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut
Tracy Caldwell-Dyson at the cosmodrome will twice try on the Sokol space
suits and the Soyuz TMA-18 craft, aboard which they will fly to the orbit
in less than two weeks. The first fitting is planned for March 22 and the
second in a week -- on March 29. After the first test, the crewmembers
will say how it fits, and specialists will take it into consideration for
final fitting of the spacecraft before the launch.
Together with the main crew, their backups Alexander Samokutyayev,
Andrei Borisenko and Scott Kelly will also participate in the final
operations before the launch. They must remain in readiness until the
launch when the main crew members take their seats in the spacecraft.
The cosmonauts and astronauts will wait until the time in Baikonur's
Cosmonaut hotel under the care of physicians.
The Soyuz launch is planned for April 2, 08:04 Moscow time.
-0-pan