Editing Karelian question (section)

=== Official opinions ===
Both Russia and Finland have repeatedly stated that no open territorial dispute exists between the two countries. Finland's official stance is that the borders may be changed through peaceful negotiations, although there is currently no need to hold open talks, as Russia has shown no intention of returning the ceded areas, or discussing the question. In 1994 [[Boris Yeltsin]] commented that the "seizure of Finnish Karelia" was an example of Stalin's totalitarian and aggressive politics.<ref>[http://www.formin.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=53731&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI Valtiosihteeri Jukka Valtasaaren puhe Karjalan Liitto ry:n seminaarissa 19.5.1998 Helsingissä] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924014838/http://www.formin.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=53731&contentlan=1&culture=fi-FI |date=2015-09-24 }}. (Speech by ''valtiosihteeri'' Jukka Valtasaari. Finnish Foreign Ministry 1998-05-19. Retrieved 2015-08-15. {{in lang|fi}}</ref> Later in 1997 he stated that the matter was closed. In 2000 Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] stated that such discussions may endanger Finnish–Russian relations, and in 2001 he said that "changing borders is not the best way to resolve problems", but that possible solutions would be "integration and cooperation".<ref>Sergei Prozorov: Border Regions and the Politics of EU-Russian Relations, p. 4. January 2004 [http://www.euborderconf.bham.ac.uk/publications/files/WP3EuropesNorth.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316072949/http://www.euborderconf.bham.ac.uk/publications/files/WP3EuropesNorth.pdf|date=2009-03-16}}, Helsingin Sanomat 9/5/2001 {{cite web |title=HS Foreign 4.9.2001 - Tones of reconciliation during Putin visit |url=http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20010904IE3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930072238/http://www2.hs.fi/english/archive/news.asp?id=20010904IE3 |archive-date=2007-09-30 |access-date=2006-05-01}}</ref> <!-- please notice, that this ref is for the whole paragraph -->

In 1998 [[President of Finland|Finnish President]] [[Martti Ahtisaari]] said that "Finland's official position is that it does not have territorial demands on Russia. However, if Russia wants to discuss returning the ceded areas, Finland is ready for that."<ref>Martti Ahtisaari. In press meeting, Kuopio 30 July 1998.</ref> Several other politicians holding government office, such as the former foreign minister [[Erkki Tuomioja]] and prime minister [[Matti Vanhanen]], have made statements along the same lines.<ref>Tuomioja's reply to [[Risto Kuisma]]'s question in Eduskunta [http://www.ristokuisma.net/html/kuisma2004/ristokuisma041222.htm]{{dead link|date=December 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>Matti Vanhanen in [[YLE]]'s "Pääministerin haastattelutunti" (Interview of the Prime Minister) on 21 November 2004</ref>

When commenting on poll results on 18 January 2005, the Foreign Minister of Russia [[Sergey Lavrov|Sergei Lavrov]] stated that if Russia were to be asked to return the ceded areas, "the answer would be absolutely negative".<ref>Vainio, Riitta: [https://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/art-2000004331311.html Provokaattoreita ja sovittelijoita], ''[[Helsingin Sanomat]]'' 21 August 2005. Accessed on 17 September 2019.</ref>