Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived on a two-day visit to Finland in the city of Turku to hold talks with Finnish President Tarja Halonen.
The talks will focus on Russian-Finnish relations including trade and economic cooperation, as well as partnership in the energy and lumber industries, European security and the simplification of a visa regime between Russia and the EU.
During the 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.
TURKU, July 20 (RIA Novosti)
