Former Finnish President’s Memoirs Offer Insights Into Putin’s Mindset

A memoir published by former president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, offers some unusual glimpses into the mindset of Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin.

The book “Kaikki tiet turvaan” (“All Roads to Security”) deals with Niinistö’s 12-year tenure, which ended in 2024. His time as Finland’s president coincided with a turbulent geopolitical period, climaxing with Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Niinistö portrayal of his two terms in office includes anecdotal snapshots of the Russian president’s sometimes quirky humor. 

He recalls that Putin would often ‘joke’ about Finnish independence and self-determination, laced with the occasional barbed remark. For example, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in 2012, Putin offered guests a rare vintage wine dating from 1845, with a comment about how much better things were then. 

The Finnish head of state took the remark to be a jibe aimed at him as Finland was Russian-controlled at the time and the state of Finland did not exist; the territory instead was the Grand Duchy of Finland—an autonomous realm under the rule of the Tsar. 

“I quickly looked around at those seated at the table and… concluded that the reminder was especially meant for me,” Finnish national broadcaster YLE quoted the book as stating.  

Odd gifts 

The book goes on to detail gifts presented to the Finnish president by his Moscow counterpart, which often kept him guessing. 

One example was a medal of honor originally bestowed upon leading 19th century Finnish statesman Samuel Werner von Troil. The one-time head of the Finnish government made speeches highly critical of Tsar Nicholas II’s policy of Russifying Finland. Consequently, he was publicly reprimanded by the Russian monarch. Seeing many parallels between his own political life and that of von Troil, Niinistö considered the gesture curious. 

On Niinistö’s 70th birthday, Putin gifted him a collection of personal letters exchanged between Finland’s wartime leader, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, and his family. Mannerheim led the resistance to Stalin’s invasion of Finland in 1939, and when the Nazis invaded the U.S.S.R. in 1941 it became a de facto ally of Hitler’s Germany. 

The Finnish president’s aides “pondered together what these messages that seemed to be in support of Finland’s self-determination really meant,” Niinistö wrote. 

Joining NATO a ‘mistake’ 

Relations became less cordial between the two leaders following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the run-up to Helsinki’s decision to join NATO, Niinistö recalls that he restrained from using potential accession to the bloc as a political bargaining chip. 

Instead, he writes, Putin raised the issue himself, suggesting that then-U.S. President Joe Biden sought to use the prospect to intimidate Moscow.  

Shortly afterwards, the Finnish president and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced Finland’s decision to join the military alliance. A few days later, the Finnish and Russian heads of state held an earlier-arranged phone call. 

“We had always spoken directly, and I thought this should be said directly as well. So, I told him that Finland is now joining NATO,” YLE cited the book as saying, adding that Putin remained “surprisingly calm.” 

“He simply said, ‘You are making a mistake,’” Niinistö recalls.  

Returning to the issue of self-determination, Niinistö then reports Putin as telling him: “I hope you’ll retain some of it; the Americans will surely take military control.” 

The book was published on Wednesday. 

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