Investments in the defense industry are also a precondition for long-term support for Ukraine, Finnish paper Helsingin Sanomat writes.

"It seems to me that the agreement in NATO for members to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense is not enough to pay for all the things Europe must do," Kivinen said in a speech at the opening of Finland's annual national defense courses.

The general is set to retire in late March, with command of the FDF going to Lt. Gen. Janne Jaakkola. President Sauli Niinistö appointed Jaakkola in late January.

Kivinen said that the world has entered a transitional period which might be compared to the end of the Cold War. But while the global security situation improved after the end of the Cold War, the world is moving in the opposite direction today, the general remarked.

"China and Russia, which have grown stronger in the last few decades, are not happy with a U.S.-led world order of Western dominance and are trying to shape a more suitable global security architecture for themselves," Kivinen said.

"As is the case right now, such periods of transition have seen conflicts and wars the outcomes of which largely determine the weight of major powers and the alliances they head in the new world order."

Kivinen urged European countries to act fast because Ukraine needs help immediately. The general also urged the EU to pass a military mobility directive that would facilitate moving troops and equipment between Member States.

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