President claims Europe disunity

With a week to go before the planned US-Russian summit in Helsinki, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Saturday commented on the “risk that the US and Russia try to agree on matters related to Europe”. Interviewed by the newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, Niinisto said the European Union is currently “not strong enough” and “not unified enough” as an actor on the international political scene. “The United States and Russia must carry out bilateral talks, but in those talks they cannot interfere with European affairs bypassing Europe,” he said.