Dubai, UAE, July 17, 2018:  As part of CNN’s coverage of the Helsinki Summit between Presidents Trump and Putin, Christiane Amanpour sat down with the host Finnish President Sauli Niinistö to discuss what had been achieved.

 

Key Quotes:

 

On what he feels President Putin achieved from the Summit:

“I think for him it was important for him to be in equal foot with the American President… he left also with a kind of burden. Those big issues, if they continue, they should also be solved somehow… I do not believe that anyone expected them to suddenly have a deal over them”

 

On why he wanted the US to be involved:

“I wanted to talk a bit about those fears that they had all over in Europe, also in Finland. You know speculations about what is he going to do with NATO, military exercises or something like that. We can now say they weren’t at all at the table which is I think positive. No fears came true”

 

On Finland being a neutral country:

“I don’t feel like that… We have always felt like a Western nation”

 

On Russia as a threat to Finland:

“I do not believe that Russia is going to attack Finland or the Baltic countries”

 

President Niinistö refused to comment on accused Russian involvement in the US elections or on President Trump’s decision to criticise American intelligence agencies:

“I leave that all for the investigation”