Russia says President Vladimir Putin has lambasted his Finnish counterpart over Helsinki's barring of Russian officials.
Finland earlier this month blocked Russian State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin and five other Russian delegates -- all on an EU sanctions list for their support of Russia's actions in Ukraine -- from attending the annual session in Helsinki of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
After Putin and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto held a telephone conversation on July 15, the Kremlin said the Russian president “pointed to the legal incorrectness" of the decision.
Despite this, it added, "the certainty was expressed that Russia and Finland will manage through their joint efforts to maintain the good neighborly and friendly character" of their ties.
Russia’s relations with the West have fallen to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War over the crisis in Ukraine.
