HELSINKI, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with his Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen in Helsinki, Finland on Wednesday and pledged deeper cooperation in economy and trade with Finland to meet the challenges of ongoing global economic crisis.

    Putin arrived in Finland Wednesday for talks with his counterpart Matti Vanhanen. At the press conference held after themeeting, both Putin and Vanhanen stressed that only combined efforts could make both countries survive better in the world-wide crisis. As Finland's biggest trade partner, Russia promised not to raise export tariffs to Finland on raw timber, which will cost the forest industry of Finland much less in present situation.

    Both Prime Ministers also stressed the importance of energy cooperation. Russia emphasized its capability to provide Finland regularly with fuels and energies like oil, electricity, gas and coal.

    The Nord Stream project, a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, was also highlighted in the talk. The pipeline is going to run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, mostly in the Finnish waters.

    Putin said at the press conference that many European countries could benefit from the Nord Stream project, which can transport gas regularly and safely.

    Vanhanen said that Finland completely understood the situation and had nothing against the gas pipeline provided environmental conditions were met. However, Finland would not be able to make the final decision before this September, as the environmental investigation on the project is still under way.

    This is Putin's first visit to Finland as the Prime Minister of Russia.