Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) was satisfied with his discussions at the White House on Tuesday with US Vice President Dick Cheney.
Vanhanen characterised his meeting with the Vice President as the most important political event of his current visit to the United States. He said that the two had noted that Finland and the United States have no problems in their bilateral relations.
Topics discussed by Vanhanen and Cheney included Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Finland's involvement with NATO's partnership for Peace programme.
Vanhanen said that Cheney did not ask Finland to send more peacekeepers to Afghanistan or Kosovo.
"Cheney was also very interested in what is happening in Russia. Energy policy was also discussed extensively, and in that connection we also talked about climate matters", Vanhanen said.
He had emphasised to Cheney the importance of international cooperation in climate issues, and how important it would be to get China and India involved.
The Finnish Prime Minister predicted that environmental policy in the United States would soon come closer to the policy line taken by the European Union.
From Washington, Vanhanen moved on to the US West Coast, where he will meet with Microsoft founder Bill Gates. He will also visit the Boeing factory, as well as a university, and speak to representatives of business.
