Bloomberg: Russia considers "air truce" with Ukraine without ending war

The Kremlin is weighing options for concessions to US President Donald Trump, which could include an air ceasefire with Ukraine to try to avert sanctions. This was reported by Bloomberg with reference to unnamed interlocutors familiar with the matter.

Officials acknowledge that U.S. Special Counsel Steve Witkoff's visit to Russia this week offers a belated opportunity to reach a deal with Trump, even if expectations of success are low, the sources said.

Suspension of air strikes using drones and missiles as a de-escalation gesture could be one of the potential proposals, provided that Ukraine also signs up to this proposal, one of the interlocutors added.

However, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin will not agree to a complete ceasefire in Ukraine, as his troops continue to advance on the battlefield and Russia's military objectives remain unchanged.

It is unclear whether any proposal for a restriction would include conditions that would effectively make it unacceptable to Kyiv and its allies, the journalists noted .

"We consider such meetings very important. But we don't comment on them in advance," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in response to a request for comment on Russian proposals for Witkoff's visit.

• On July 28, Trump shortened his 50-day ultimatum to Putin: now he gave the dictator "10 or 12 days" to conclude a peace deal, otherwise secondary duties will be applied to buyers of Russian resources.
• The very next day, the US president said that Putin has 10 days to end the war against Ukraine. At the same time, the head of the United States believes that the settlement of the war in Ukraine will take a long time .
• On August 5, Trump said that the decline in oil prices would force Russia to stop hostilities against Ukraine.