The Kremlin is weighing options for a concession to U.S. President Donald Trump that could include an air truce with Ukraine to try to head off the threat of secondary sanctions, even as Russia remains determined to continue its war.

Officials recognize that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Russia this week offers a late opportunity for agreement with Trump even if expectations for success are low, people familiar with the situation said, asking not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. A pause on airstrikes involving drones and missiles as a deescalation gesture may be one potential proposal provided that Ukraine also signed up, one of them said.

Still, President Vladimir Putin won’t agree to a general ceasefire in Ukraine as his forces continue steady advances on the battlefield, and Russia’s war aims remain unchanged. It’s unclear whether any offer of restraint would include conditions that effectively made it unacceptable to Kyiv and its allies.

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

Trump has said Witkoff is expected to go to Russia as soon as Wednesday for the fifth time this year, and the Kremlin has said a meeting with Putin may take place. The U.S. president is threatening to impose heavy tariffs from Friday on countries including China and India that buy Russian oil and other goods, in an effort to intensify pressure on Putin to call a halt to the war that’s now in its fourth year.

“Trump needs some kind of a ‘gift,’ a concession from Russia,” said Sergei Markov, a Moscow-based political consultant close to the Kremlin. “An air truce could be such a gift.”

Trump ramped up criticism of India on Tuesday, saying he’d “very substantially” raise tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. over the next 24 hours to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil and “fueling the war machine.” India has called the move unjustified.

Having returned to the White House pledging to bring a rapid end to the war, Trump has grown increasingly frustrated at Putin’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire during six phone calls with the Russian leader since February. He told reporters last week that they have “such respectful and nice conversations, and then people die the following night in a — with a missile going into a town.”

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko raised “an air truce” in remarks alongside Putin on Friday, though the Russian leader didn’t comment on it. Lukashenko met Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in June, the highest-level U.S. official to visit Belarus since 2020.

“I say, yes, Russia is interested in this, President Putin, but you don’t want it,” Lukashenko told reporters, referring to the talks. “Tell Zelenskyy to go along with it.”

Kellogg is expected to visit Kyiv later this week for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrayinska Pravda reported Monday, citing people in the presidential office that it didn’t identify.

Zelenskyy said he held “productive” phone talks with Trump on Tuesday, including on sanctions against Russia. The U.S. president was “fully informed” about Russian strikes on Kyiv and other cities and communities, Zelenskyy said in a social media post.

Russia has stepped up air attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, including with record numbers of drones, as Putin maintains hardline demands in return for a deal to end the war. Those include Kyiv’s acceptance of neutral status and recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and of four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine that his troops only partly occupy.

Ukraine rejects these conditions, while calling for Russia to agree to a ceasefire to allow space for negotiations on a peace accord.

Putin has repeatedly spurned U.S. and European calls to abide by a 30-day ceasefire, though he declared a 72-hour truce as Russia marked the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in May. In March, Ukraine and Russia said they’d observe a 30-day moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure, following calls with Trump, though each accused the other of breaching the accord.

Two-thirds of Russians favor ending the war at the current positions, while a quarter want to continue fighting, according to Denis Volkov, director of the independent Levada Center pollster in Moscow.

“For most Russians, the end of the war, but not a return to the former borders, is a welcome scenario,” he said.

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