Reacting to the comments, Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian Duma, says that he plans to take up the issue with the party’s chair, Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen, during his upcoming visit to Moscow.

Kiviniemi, who took over as premier in June, made the comment to reporters during a break in budget talks on Thursday.

At a recent meeting of conservative National Coalition Party ministers, Katainen said that Russia is a great power primarily in its own mind.

“Listening to how Russia talks, it is hard to believe that its economy is only the size of that of the Netherlands,” Katainen said at a meeting of his party’s ministerial group.

Meanwhile Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb predicted that Finnish-Russian child custody disputes would probably increase in the near future.

Hearing about the comments, Kosachev said that he would discuss the matter with Katainen.

“At the end of this month I plan to ask Katainen about this matter when he arrives in Moscow in his capacity as Minister of Finance,” Kosachev said in an interview with YLE.

“Russia Has Nuclear Weapons”

Kosachev also disputes the ministers’ views on Russia’s great power status – or lack of it.

“Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and it has nuclear weapons. It is also one of the G-8 countries, and belongs to many other organisations which influence the whole world,” he said.

“The position is fully objective. It is a position which all Finnish politicians should certainly concede.”

Kosachev is one of the leading figures in foreign affairs of Russia’s leading party, United Russia. The party’s chair is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Kosachev notes that United Russia has direct party relations with the Finnish National Coalition Party.

The Russian politician also disputes forecasts according to which bilateral problems between Finland and Russia would be on the increase. In his view, relations between Finland and Russia are “on a stable and healthy foundation”.

“Relations will also develop in a positive direction, regardless of the will of individual politicians on either side. It is my profound opinion that there is a deep societal need for this, and that it is in the interests of both countries," he added.

“NATO Membership Would Harm Relations”

Kosachev also warns against hurting relations by making the wrong kinds of foreign policy decisions. One such step could be Finnish membership in NATO.

“I am sure that the neutrality policy implemented by Finland after the war has had a key role in the fact that you have achieved an important position in the world politically economically.”

Kosachev emphasised Russia’s sharply negative view of NATO’s expansion.

“The reason for this conviction is that NATO is obsolete as a project. It seems to be very inefficient in responding to new threats. An indication of this is the operation in Afghanistan, for instance.”

He emphasised, however that the decision on whether or not to join an alliance is completely an internal matter for Finland.

“Russia does not want to intervene in any way in how this hot potato is to be used in Finnish domestic policy.”

He added, however, that Finnish debate on NATO is being monitored in Russia, and that the conclusions that are drawn are not a matter of indifference to Russia.

For his part, Minister Jyrki Katainen says he is not surprised at Russian reaction to his comments. He added the issue had not affected the work of the government.

Speaking to YLE, he reiterated that in his view Russia was a superpower in a geographical sense but not in an economic one. In his view, Russia was a very significant partner for Finland.