On a crisp November day in central Moscow, residents of the Russian capital walk along its elegant, colourful streets, browsing cheerfully in shop windows under a bright silver sky. Winter here in Russia can be bleak and gloomy, but many Muscovites out enjoying the final days of Autumn are doing so in the belief that there is a glimmer of light in the months ahead.
The reason for their optimism? The return of Donald Trump to the White House might, Russians hope, end the continuous decline in relations between the Washington and the Kremlin since the war in Ukraine began. Perhaps the return of a familiar, friendlier voice in the White House could even bring an end to the conflict that many here in Moscow seem desperate to put behind them.
