The prime minister of Finland will visit Poland on Friday to persuade Warsaw to abandon its opposition to talks on a new partnership and cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of Finland, which is holding the presidency of the European Union, will meet with his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski and discuss the launch of negotiations on a new partnership and cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia.

The agreement, which is to be signed during the EU-Russia summit in Helsinki next Friday, has to be approved by all EU member states first.

Poland has refused all talks until Russia lifts import bans on Polish meat and vegetables and ratifies an international energy charter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's office announced on Thursday that he will begin his working visit to Finland next Thursday. Putin will discuss bilateral and international issues with his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen ahead of next Friday's Russia-EU summit.

Source: Xinhua