Retired Ukrainian Armed Forces Major Ihor Lapin shared this on Espreso TV.“An air ceasefire is certainly beneficial for civilian cities. But let’s be honest. Has Putin bombed everything he wanted? Our energy system and so on? He has basically destroyed the lion’s share of what he could reach. Who suffers more now, if we talk in terms of the country? Of course, Ukraine suffers because civilians are dying,” he said.According to Lapin, Putin is supposedly ready to stop killing civilians so that we don’t target his oil refineries and his money.“That’s the only thing he might agree to. But it will all be a sham. Why? Because Putin will be stockpiling. And at the right moment, when he needs to continue his aggressive offensive actions, there will be such a barrage of explosive attacks raining down on us that it’s hard to even imagine. In that context, as soon as there’s an air ceasefire, Trump and others like Orban and Fico will say: ‘Well, there’s an air ceasefire — so why give the Ukrainians Patriot systems? Why provide them with additional Patriot missiles? It’s all over now — there’s an air ceasefire,’” the major noted.Lapin believes these developments primarily benefit Russia.“If we base it on the idea that they will continue attacking us in a month, two months, or six months. I emphasize once again: a ceasefire and peace are different things. Without a peace agreement, confirmed by international partners with specific guarantees, everything else means absolutely nothing,” he concluded.BackgroundOn Wednesday, August 6, U.S. President Donald Trump's special representative, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow, where he met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.Presidents of Ukraine and the U.S., Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, held a phone call with participation of European leaders.On August 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.On Friday, August 8, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged partners to increase pressure on Russia to force Moscow to agree to a ceasefire and announced new Ukrainian sanctions packages.