HELSINKI (AFP) -- The European Union and Russia signed an environmental cooperation agreement in Helsinki on Monday, resolving to protect the Baltic Sea and forests and to fight against climate change.

The text was signed at the first meeting of the permanent council of EU-Russian partnership on the environment, by Jan-Erik Enestam, environment minister of Finland which currently holds the EU presidency, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Russian Minister for Natural Resources Yury Trutnev.

Combating Baltic Sea pollution, protecting forests and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are some of the priorities of the EU-Russian dialogue on the environment.

Trunov welcomed the accord, saying that Russia "would not cease to improve it's requirements and standards for protecting the environment".

"This is an immense country, blessed with significant natural resources, but also with an imposing industrial sector dating from the Soviet era," he added.

"It's a vital step forward," Enestam said at a press conference at the signing ceremony, recognizing that "cooperation between the EU and Russia on environmental protection has so far not been very systematic". "I am convinced that the ongoing international environmental impact assessment process will benefit all the various parties involved in the project by producing information that will be of use to decision-makers, researchers and the citizens of the coastal states around the Baltic Sea."