Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began three years ago, has devastated much of the war-torn nation and claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians. Both sides have suffered significant military losses. However, on the streets of Russia, some now express hope for an end to the war and the Western-imposed sanctions. There is optimism that the hostility with the United States, which peaked during former President Joe Biden’s tenure, could diminish as President Donald Trump’s administration works to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table.
Fearing reprisals, all interviewees in Russia declined to provide their surnames, given Moscow’s crackdown on dissent. Katherine, a psychiatrist from St. Petersburg who protested against the war in 2022, stated that she supports peace at any cost. “My clients happily say, ‘Well, the Americans are on our side again. That’s good because America is a great country after all,’” she said. “Everyone understands that it’s better to be friends with America than to fight. Russians don’t really like to hate, although they know how. In fact, three years of war have not made Russians hate Ukrainians en masse. They rather sympathize with them. And if it’s possible not to hate Americans anymore, then that’s just great too.”
Elena, also from St. Petersburg, remarked, “Well done, Trump. Let him at least glue them both [Putin and Zelenskyy] to the negotiating table while he gobbles up their dinners.”
Washington’s sudden shift in policy toward Ukraine has sent shockwaves across the globe. After a contentious meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House in February, the U.S. halted military aid and intelligence sharing with Kyiv. Faced with the prospect of bearing the burden of Ukraine’s defense alone, Ukraine’s European allies were alarmed. French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine as part of a potential settlement and expanding France’s nuclear arsenal.
Moscow, however, welcomed Washington’s new stance. “The new [U.S.] administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently told Russian reporters. He added that freezing military aid is “a solution that could really push the Kyiv regime towards a peace process.”
On March 5, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who once called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “thug” and a “gangster,” described the conflict in Ukraine as a proxy war between Washington and Moscow. Peskov noted that this “completely echoes the position that our president and foreign minister have repeatedly voiced.”
Russian state-aligned media also expressed optimism. “Our idea of peace is clear and obvious: Everything will happen the way we see fit,” said Kremlin-aligned talk show host Vladimir Solovyov. “Pay attention that Trump didn’t say anything about Russia’s aggression, didn’t condemn [us], none of the Biden-style insults about Putin – not even close. By the way, I also didn’t hear ‘We’ll stand with you for as long as it takes,’” he added, referencing Biden’s past remarks.
Tensions between Ukraine and Washington appear to have eased since the heated exchange between Trump and Zelenskyy. A team of Ukrainian delegates meeting in Saudi Arabia agreed to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire. Russia stated it is closely monitoring the developments.
However, some remain skeptical. “They should do something, but what? Trump says one thing today and practically the opposite tomorrow,” said Evgeniya, a translator from St. Petersburg. “Zelenskyy has insecurities, ambitions, … and Putin has a huge country with resources, an idiotic vision of history, and crazy friend Medvedev,” she added, referring to former President Dmitry Medvedev, who has become more hawkish than Putin.
Tatyana, a businesswoman from Moscow, expressed despair. “Trump is colluding with what Russia has done to its own homeland, its own people, its own economy,” she said. “Why did Putin collude with Trump? [Putin] is clearly disagreeable. Apart from [North] Korea and Iran and a few other distant countries, no one respects him. … He destroyed so much – so many cities, so many lives – for nothing, for no reason. Huge amounts of money are being invested in the military industry, but what will happen later when the war stops? There will be a bunch of unemployed, penniless people, and in general, it’s very scary.”
Although Trump’s position toward Russia differs significantly from Biden’s, the new U.S. administration is not entirely sympathetic to the Kremlin. On Friday, Trump threatened to impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin fails to engage in negotiations.
“Since Trump was elected president of the United States and to this day, I try not to indulge in excessive optimism about a peaceful settlement thanks to his efforts,” said Alexey Malinin, founder of the Moscow-based Center for International Interaction and Cooperation. “The conflict is very serious, the positions of the parties are largely irreconcilable, and Ukraine is currently not demonstrating a readiness for an agreeable dialogue without floating castles and rose-tinted glasses. Now we see that Europe also supports Ukraine’s detachment from reality. And Trump himself, despite numerous demonstrative and insignificant curtsies in our direction, can abandon his peace mission at any moment. His negotiating approach often consists in the fact that if the opposing side does not agree with him, he changes his approach to intense pressure, where it is unpredictable what the outcome will be.”
Malinin, however, welcomed Trump’s apparent willingness to consider Moscow’s demands. “A stable peace is possible under the following conditions: Ukraine officially abandons its desire to take Russian territories, refuses to join NATO, and ensures incomplete demilitarization: reduces its army, including heavy weapons,” he said. “And such an agreement must be officially supported by a wide range of intermediaries: not only the U.S. and European countries but also countries that we trust more – for example, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Qatar, and others.”
However, the apparent U.S. willingness to compromise with Russia may not be shared by Ukraine’s European allies or Ukrainians themselves. “I think there is a window of opportunity that can be lost,” said Oleg Ignatov, a senior Russian analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The problem is that the U.S., Europe, and Ukraine do not have a unified position. A split between them could lead to negotiations not taking place or collapsing.”
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