Russia May Seek Peacekeeper's Role After World Cup, Helsinki Summit – Finnish FM

The July 15 closing ceremony of the 2018 FIFA World Cup was followed by Monday's high-level talks in Helsinki between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, who both touted the sit-down as highly "successful" and "productive."

Russia "might be a peacemaker in Ukraine, in Syria, in nuclear weapons" in the wake of the World Cup and the Putin-Trump summit in Helsinki, Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit, he claimed that "there will be no such thing [like Crimea]" and that "Russia might surprise in another way […] because they have much more on hand to give up now than what they had back then."

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His remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his meeting American counterpart Donald Trump was expected to be a "warm-up" but finally turned out to be "very substantial."

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The talks specifically focused on the situation in Syria, with both Putin and Trump agreeing that by working together, the US and Russia will be able to greatly help the Arab Republic achieve peace and resolve its humanitarian crises.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that he and Trump agreed to work out at the level of experts the issue of resolving the crisis in Ukraine.

Ukraine and a large number of its allies have not accepted the results of the 2014 referendum in Crimea, during which more than 90 percent of voters supported the peninsula's reunification with Russia. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the vote had been conducted in line with international laws.