Before stepping back into the Oval Office in January, United States President Donald Trump promised numerous times that he would broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine “within 24 hours”.

Since then, as the war has escalated and peace has looked increasingly distant, he recently claimed that pledge was sarcastic.

But a meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on Friday has raised hopes among some Russians.

“It may be a signal for a restart of relations,” Moscow resident Damir Gurin said. “Formally, Washington has all the legal mechanisms to lift sanctions and restrictions at once, opening the way to the deal of the century.

“This is no longer just diplomacy. It is a redrawing of the geopolitical map.”

Others are more sceptical.

“Between Putin’s

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