OTTAWA - Chilly relations between Canada and Russia are warming as Prime Minister Stephen Harper applauds the Kremlin's tougher stance on sanctions against Iran.
Canada also got an earful Thursday from Russia's neighbour, Finland, on the need for the West to embrace Moscow as a full partner on global issues.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke by telephone Thursday with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about Iran's announcement that it has produced a first batch of enriched uranium.
"I know that the Russian government put out a very strong statement on Iran and also we just expressed our concerns," Harper told reporters in Vancouver.
"It was a good discussion, and I intend to continue it through the G8 with President (Dmitry) Medvedev."
Russian officials had been reluctant to push further sanctions against Iran until this week's major developments on the nuclear front. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Russia's support would be crucial if a fourth round of sanctions were to be imposed.
Warm words toward Moscow from Ottawa have been rare in the four years that the Harper Conservatives have been in power. The Conservatives have criticized the Russians for coming too close to Canadian Arctic airspace, for sending submarines into the Arctic to plant flags on the seabed, and for exerting too much control over some of its neighbours.
But Canada and Russia have been talking about how to make nuclear non-proliferation a key issue at this summer's G8 summit in Huntsville, Ont., and the Iranian issue has brought Ottawa and Moscow closer together.
Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb, who was visiting Ottawa Thursday, strongly urged his counterpart Lawrence Cannon to work more closely with Russia.
"When you have 1,350 kilometres of border with Russia there's a tendency of your foreign minister colleagues to be interested in hearing what you think. And I told him what I thought. I feel that we should bring Russia as close to the West as possible and treat Russia very much as a partner," Stubb said at a shared podium with Cannon at Foreign Affairs headquarters.
Stubb said relations between the European Union and Russia are moving in a better direction. He was also happy to see that the "reset button" had been pressed in relations between the Kremlin and the White House.
"We're never nervous really about Russia, whether newly assertive or assertive. What we want to see is an integrated Russia," said Stubb.
Russia's ambassador to Canada Georgiy Mamedov told The Canadian Press recently that his country and Canada are well on their way to leaving their much publicized differences in the past.
"Sometimes we have discussions over overflights (of the Arctic) and so forth. Deep inside, both sides understand co-operation is the agenda for the future. I hope that when our leaders meet again on the margins of the G8, or the margins of the G20, we will further our co-operation in the North as well," said Mamedov.
Harper and Medvedev had good discussions late last fall at the APEC summit in Singapore, the envoy said.
"Medvedev assured your prime minister that we have no demands on the Arctic, that we will play by the rules, that we are bound by the same United Nations agreements as you are," he said.
Mamedov said Russia values its co-operation and membership with Canada in the Arctic Council.
