An advisor to the president of Ukraine has given an exclusive interview to NHK World. Oleksiy Arestovych is a close aide to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Arestovych explained his view on the possibility of a new framework called U-24 to replace NATO. Creating such a structure was a topic in the ceasefire negotiations with Russia.

Arestovych said, "Ukraine has always been a neutral country, but none of the Budapest Memorandum members fulfilled their duties to protect us. This U-24 framework would be able to take real action quickly. Many countries, including NATO members, agreed to provide this support. This framework is set up to give political, military, economic and humanitarian aid within 24 hours of an invasion. NATO's framework calls for action within 60 days, but U-24 calls for it in only one day. We are building an alternative to NATO."

Arestovych is in charge of the Ukrainian military. He said his analysis suggests the Russian army will reach a stalemate in a month.

He said, "For one month, the Russian army will try to continue attacking Ukraine. But then both sides will have to stop. We won't be able to attack because we aren't getting any heavy artillery. And the Russian side will stop because we will have destroyed all their offensive ability. The weak point of Russia's military is its supply chain. This was already a weakness, and we are destroying their supply routes. Tanks are scary on the battlefield, but without gasoline, they're just scrap metal."

Arestovych expects more support from Japan to strengthen its humanitarian assistance for evacuees and economic sanctions against Russia.

He said, "We are very grateful to the Japanese government and people for their sanctions on the Russian Federation. They are very helpful. But we need stronger sanctions. The ones in place are weakening Russia's economy but not stopping its military. Personal sanctions against Russian leaders and oligarchs will have the most effect. The top people can endure sanctions while the common people are struggling, but not while they are struggling themselves."

Arestovych stressed that Ukrainian soldiers and people do not need propaganda to fight with all their strength. He said for every gun they have, there are six people willing to defend their homeland.