As Moscow and Washington Discuss Ukraine, Russians Hope for Normalcy

Dreams of direct flights to Miami, Los Angeles and New York by July. Hopes that Western brands will soon reopen their stores. Speculation that companies like Visa and Mastercard are on their way back to process payments.

While none of that has yet come to pass, Russians are hoping that a return to normalcy in their country is on the horizon now that Washington and Moscow are moving to reset their relationship after three years of hostility because of the war in Ukraine.

News of the first round of talks between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday sent many Russians into a state of glee, and anticipation, that the hardships of war, and the shunning of Russia by much of the world, may soon end.

On Tuesday, speaking on the main political news show on state television, Yuri Afonin, a Communist lawmaker, said that direct talks between Moscow and Washington were a reward for Russia’s resilience over the past three years.

“Russia has proved that it can hold talks about the future of the world on par with the U.S.,” Mr. Afonin said.

“This is not just about negotiating an end to the conflict,” he added. “It is about a new world order.”

The Kremlin has portrayed the end of the war in terms of a grand deal that should cement its hold over at least parts of Ukraine. But many Russians see it as a return to a time when people did not have to worry that their children would get drafted to fight or fear being detained for antiwar posts on social media. And they are expressing hope that an end to the war will also bring an end to sanctions that have battered the economy.

According to estimates by groups tracking war deaths, more than 150,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and many more wounded in a conflict that has ground on for three years. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the country fearing a forced mobilization or crackdowns on those opposing the invasion or expressing other forms of dissent.

On the home front, Russians have had to cope with shortages of commodities, and soaring prices and interest rates.

On social media, some whose relatives and friends have been devastated by the war are still preoccupied with familiar questions: How can they get loved ones away from the front lines? Can they get benefits for partners who have been killed in the fighting?

For many Russians, Washington’s sudden about-face toward their country appears to have led to a surge of admiration for and interest in President Trump.

In Moscow, sales of Mr. Trump’s books and books about geopolitics have soared since January, one of the leading bookstore chains told Kommersant, a Russian business daily. A leading Russian publisher said that it had run out of copies of “Trump: The Art of The Deal” and that sales of “Think Like a Champion,” another book by Mr. Trump, had increased threefold.

So far, reports about brands and direct flights to the U.S. returning to Russia have been purely speculative. There are no plans yet to restore direct flights between Moscow and American cities, and no Western brands have officially announced their return to Russia.

Still, rumors that they would be back — speculation that was amplified by state media as signals that Russia had prevailed in the conflict with the West — were indicative of the overall mood.

Anatoly Aksakov, a Russian lawmaker in the lower house of Parliament, expressed confidence that the likes of Visa and Mastercard would want to re-enter the country’s market.

“Obviously, they want to return to the Russian market faster, so that they can make money on it,” Mr. Aksakov said.

And since a phone call between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin last week, state television has been trumpeting what it portrays as Russia’s restored stature on the global stage.

Dmitri Kiselyov, host of Vesti Nedeli, the flagship Sunday news show on Russian state television, said the call between the two presidents was “a political earthquake, or more precisely, a devastating tsunami for America’s European allies.”

He added, “The White House struck them in the heart by declaring the system of current European values false and even harmful.”

Others were more cautious.

Artyom Sheynin, the host of a political talk show on Channel One, started his broadcast on Tuesday by examining a picture of Russian and American officials meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

“Everyone sat nearly impenetrably stone-faced,” Mr. Sheynin said. “This indicates symbolically where our attempt to turn the clock back starts from,” he added. “We are doing it without any 100 percent guarantee that we will be able to succeed.”

Some conservatives, whose nationalist views have become highly influential in Russia over the course of the war, have also expressed skepticism that the talks will produce quick results. They have even suggested that the negotiations could undermine their country’s self-reliance.

Zakhar Prilepin, a popular conservative writer, warned in a post on Tuesday that the return of Western brands could also hurt Russian companies that have been stepping up production in response to the sanctions and shortages of Western goods.

Nataliya Vasilyeva and Alina Lobzina contributed reporting.