[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

--- "...pretty simple, the way that works is that Russia refrains from heavy bombardments close to visiting dignitaries."

For this to be, there would have to be back-channel communications between combatants. Is that your assertion?

Were that true, between US and European elite, there could be every day a state or celebrity visit. Better cover than actual air defense.....

[Paul R.]

These trips are usually announced and public knowledge in advance. When not, sure, the UK Foreign Ministry, for example, would surely alert their Russian counterparts that some significant official would be arriving.

Were that true, between US and European elite, there could be every day a state or celebrity visit. Better cover than actual air defense.....

I thought of that too, but, Ukraine is in actuality a pretty big place, with lots of targets. So, it might be possible to "cover" Kyiv (at least the airport, downtown, major gov't offices, etc.) on any given day, but Russia could just hit Odessa or Kharkhiv or Kherson or Dnipro or Lviv or...