Niinistö, 75-year-old, was president over two consecutive five-year terms and steps down Friday, the same day his successor, president-elect Alexander Stubb, is to be sworn in.

At his final press conference as head of state, Niinistö mentioned Russia, and threats of the deployment of nuclear weapons.

These threats should be treated with a pinch of salt, however, Niinistö, who met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow as recently as autumn 2021, said. "Now and then Russia talks about nuclear weapons. You have to be somewhat suspicious about that. They take every advantage they can in the things they say."

Nonetheless, the use of nuclear weapons being talked about at all, in any context, is "a very serious matter," particularly for Finland, which borders Russia. "[The use of] nuclear weapons would destroy the country," he said.

In a related matter, Europe needs to be more active in supporting Ukraine, the outgoing president said, regardless of the outcome of November's US presidential election.

Other matters President Niinistö touched upon included Sweden's impending NATO membership, now finally going ahead after ratification by Hungary. Finland's neighbor to the West might become the 32nd member state of the alliance as soon as this month, while the delays – Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance at the same time, but Finland formally joined last summer – had not caused any major damage, he said.

Alexander Stubb, who served as Finland's prime minister 2014-2015 and is a former MEP, takes the oath of office on Friday.

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