Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen will hold talks on Wednesday.
The two leaders will discuss bilateral trade and economic relations, cooperation in the energy and lumber industries, issues of European security and visa regime facilitation between Russia and the EU, as well as child adoption.
According to a Kremlin representative, Russian-Finnish trade turnover in the first quarter of 2010 grew over 20% year-on-year to $5 billion, and Russia retained first place among Finland's trade partners despite a 2009 trade drop. Over the past decade, trade increased fivefold.
Medvedev arrived on a two-day visit to Finland in the city of Turku on Tuesday. The Russian leader and Halonen held a brief meeting on the first day of the visit.
During Wednesday's talks, the sides are also expected to discuss nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation issues.
The two presidents will also touch upon social issues concerning child adoption and Russian-Finnish families' child rows.
Last week Finland refused to sign an agreement with Russia on family and civil cases that was due to settle family-based incidents.
Finland has seen numerous high-profile family scandals since a law came into effect in 2008 giving the authorities the right to remove children thought to be in danger from their homes before legal proceedings have started.
Russia's ombudsman for children's rights, Pavel Astakhov, said the cases involving Russian children in Finnish-Russian families should be subject to the UN convention on human rights, as "both Russia and Finland are signatories."
In February, 7-year old Robert Rantala from a Russian-Finnish family was sent to an orphanage in the Finnish city of Turku after he told his classmates his mother had slapped him and he might return to Russia. Local authorities filed a lawsuit to deprive Robert's father and mother of their parental rights.
Another Russian-Finnish row hit the headlines recently when Finnish authorities refused to give a residency permit to an 82-year old Russian woman who had lived with her daughter, a Finnish citizen, for two years after arriving on a tourist visa. Finland insisted on the deportation of Irina Antonova and she eventually left for Russia.
MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti)
