Journalist Vitaliy Portnykov said this on Espreso TV.“If it is more important for Putin to keep Trump’s favor than to continue the war at this stage, he may make certain concessions. Perhaps, by the way, one of them will be an ‘air truce’. This may also be beneficial for Putin. An ‘air truce’ is declared, and Putin believes that in terms of infrastructure, he has already destroyed in Ukraine everything he could,” he noted.In his opinion, in such a scenario, the war will continue on the front lines, but more and more people in Ukraine will not pay much attention to it.“The war is turning into an analogue of the war in 2014. And Russia, using this analogy, is intensifying destabilizing actions and convincing Ukrainian society that agreeing to Russian conditions is the best way not to end up in a war zone. Because if you don’t want to be mobilized anymore, if you want to keep living a calm, peaceful life in your cities and towns, which no one is shelling, elect a government that will come to an agreement with Putin. Why hold on to a government that does not agree with Russia? In conditions of an ‘air truce’, new presidential and parliamentary elections may come, which will be another populist and pro-Russian revenge, because most of the population, exhausted by the war, will vote for those who promise to reach an agreement,” the journalist said.What precededOn Wednesday, August 6, US President Donald Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow, where he met with Vladimir Putin. Their talks lasted about three hours. According to the White House head, the talks were productive.On August 8, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that American and Russian officials are considering options for an agreement that could end the war but would require Russia to keep control over the occupied territories of Ukraine.On the same day, US President Donald Trump said that a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine would include some exchange of territories.Later, the US president announced that he would meet with Putin in Alaska next Friday, August 15.Axios reported that senior officials from the United States, Ukraine, and European countries will hold talks in the United Kingdom ahead of the Trump–Putin meeting to coordinate common positions.Media also reported that Volodymyr Zelenskyy may join the meeting between the American leader and the Russian leader, scheduled for August 15.Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed on August 9 that Ukraine will not make territorial concessions to Russia. He also confirmed that he is ready to work for a just peace.