"We have experience of dealing with Russia, and we had a tradition of 'Hats' and 'Caps,' where the 'Hats' were the hardliners and the 'Caps' were the softliners," Soini said in an interview with Polish Radio's Danuta Isler.
“Now, all of us are 'Hats' because we think it's dangerous to be too soft with Russia," he added.
His remarks come as the European Union prepares its 17th sanctions package against Russia.
The new measures are expected to expand the EU’s blacklist, adding individuals, companies and institutions subject to asset freezes and travel bans.
The previous package, adopted in February on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, included a ban on Russian aluminum imports, restrictions on chemical exports, and the disconnection of several Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system.
Despite the sanctions, many international experts argue that Russia only responds to power, which is why the restrictive measures have had limited impact so far.
Finland, which shares a 1,343-kilometer border with Russia, is among the EU member states seeking to trigger the "national escape clause" from EU deficit rules in order to boost defense spending.
The country also announced last month that it would keep all border crossings with Russia closed "until further notice," citing an ongoing threat from Moscow, which it accuses of orchestrating irregular migration to destabilize Finland and the EU.
Soini served as Finland's foreign minister from 2015 to 2019 and as deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2017.
Timo Soini, pictured ahead of a meeting of EU top diplomats in September 2017. Photo: EU2017EE Estonian Presidency, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
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