After US President Donald Trump reversed Western policy towards Moscow, the Russian sovereign wealth fund announced yesterday that it expects a number of American companies to return to Russia as early as the second quarter of 2025, and the population dreams of direct flights to Miami, Los Angeles and New York being re-established by July.
Russians, as reported by the New York Times, are hoping that a return to normality in their country is in sight now that Washington and Moscow are trying to reset their relations after three years of hostilities and that they will soon be able to shop in foreign-brand stores again and pay with Visa and MasterCard cards.
News of the first round of talks between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia has caused many Russians to feel a sense of elation and anticipation that the hardships of war and Russia's isolation from much of the world are soon coming to an end.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund “expects a number of US companies to return to the Russian market in the second quarter of 2025,” its director, Kirill Dmitriev, told Reuters yesterday. “However, the process of US companies’ return will not be easy, as many market niches are already occupied,” said Dmitriev, a 49-year-old former investment banker who studied at Harvard and Stanford in the XNUMXs.
After the West imposed the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a major economy, Russia quickly took measures to circumvent the restrictions, and domestic producers took over market share previously held by large international companies.
Yuri Afonin, a Communist lawmaker, said Tuesday that direct talks between Moscow and Washington are a reward for Russia’s perseverance over the past three years. “Russia has proven that it can hold talks on the future of the world on an equal footing with the United States,” Afonin said. “This is not just a matter of negotiating an end to the conflict,” he added. “This is about a new world order.”
However, the New York Times points out that for ordinary citizens of Moscow, the potential agreement is less a matter of geopolitics and more an end to bloody fighting in a war that has claimed thousands of lives.
“I feel better now that we see that this issue will be resolved at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield,” Dmitry, a 31-year-old marketing expert, told the American newspaper.
"We have been sworn enemies for the last 10 years, and now they are hugging and suffocating each other at the same time," said Dmitry from Moscow.
In a telephone interview, Dmitry, who asked that his last name not be used so he could speak candidly about the war, said that while he does not support President Vladimir Putin and his policies, he believes some of the Kremlin's claims that the government in Kiev has been pressuring the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.
But most of all, Dmitry said he wanted the war to end. He added that Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons during the war had left him “stunned.” “At this point, neither side wants to back down,” he said. “I can’t wait for this to end.”
The Kremlin is presenting the eventual end of the war as a grand agreement that should solidify its control over at least parts of Ukraine. But many Russians see it as a return to a time when they didn't have to worry about their children being drafted to fight or being arrested for anti-war posts on social media. They also hope that the end of the war will bring the lifting of sanctions that have hit the economy hard.
According to estimates by groups that track the death toll in the war, more than 150.000 Russian soldiers have been killed and many more wounded in the three-year conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the country, fearing forced mobilization or repression of those who oppose the invasion or express other forms of dissent, the New York Times points out.
Domestically, Russians have faced shortages of basic goods, skyrocketing prices and high interest rates. On social media, those whose relatives and friends have been hard hit by the war continue to ask questions like how to get loved ones off the front lines.
For many Russians, Washington's abrupt change in attitude toward their country has led to a surge in admiration and interest in Trump, with sales of Trump's books soaring since January. A leading Russian publisher told Kommersant that copies of "Trump: The Art of the Deal" have sold out, while sales of "Think Like a Champion" have tripled.
For now, reports of the return of Western brands and direct flights to the US remain purely speculative. There are still no concrete plans to resume direct flights between Moscow and American cities, nor has any Western company officially announced a return to the Russian market, the "American newspaper" points out.
Still, rumors that he will return - speculation amplified by state media as an indication that Russia has won its conflict with the West - reflect the general atmosphere.
Anatoly Aksakov, a Russian lawmaker in the lower house of parliament, expressed confidence that companies like Visa and MasterCard will want to re-enter the Russian market. “It is obvious that they want to return to the Russian market as quickly as possible so that they can start making money again,” Mr. Aksakov said.
When Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022, many Western companies, including McDonald's (MCD.N) and Caterpillar (CAT.N) left Russia, and some suffered huge write-down losses as they sold their assets at heavily discounted prices.
Since the phone call between President Trump and Mr. Putin last Sunday, state television has been constantly highlighting what it portrays as Russia's renewed global status.
Dmitry Kiselyov, host of “Vesti Nedeli,” the main weekly news program on Russian state television, said the conversation between the two presidents was “a political earthquake, or more precisely, a devastating tsunami for America’s European allies.” He added: “The White House hit them right in the heart by declaring that the existing system of European values is false and even harmful.”
Others were more cautious.
Artem Sheinin, the host of a political show on Channel One, began his show Tuesday by analyzing a photo of Russian and American officials at a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Everyone was sitting completely expressionless,” Mr. Sheinin said. “This symbolically shows where our attempt to turn back time begins,” he added. “We are doing it without any guarantee that we will succeed.”
Dmitry, a marketing expert from Moscow, said he views the Riyadh meeting “with great caution.” “We have been sworn enemies for the last 10 years, and now we are hugging and choking each other at the same time,” he said.
Some conservatives, whose nationalist views became very influential in Russia during the war, have also expressed doubts that the talks will bring quick results. They have even suggested that the talks could undermine the country's ability to rely on its own resources.
Zakhar Prilepin, a popular conservative writer, warned in a post on Tuesday that the return of Western brands could harm Russian companies that have increased production in response to sanctions and shortages of Western products.
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