The talks between Russia and the US initiated by the Trump administration appear to have slowed down and been moved to a lower level: at a meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, April 10, the Russian side will be represented by the newly named Russian ambassador to the US, Alexander Darchiev, and the US side by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Russia and Central Europe Sonata Coulter.

All through last week, Russian state media were widely covering the Russia-US talks in prime-time broadcasts, with journalists voicing flattering remarks about Trump and emphasizing shared interests.

Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who had traveled to Washington for talks, gave an interview to Russia’s state TV channel Channel One during its Sunday evening news program. He said that Russia had demonstrated during the talks that the “strategic defeat the Biden administration had tried to inflict” on Russia had failed and added that he believed the US would see through the “disinformation” coming from Europe.

“I believe what will help the Trump administration… is shared values with Russia,” Dmitriev said during the interview. “These are our traditional values. We know that President Trump has said there are only ‘men’ and ‘women.’ And there’s an understanding by Trump that the main problem for Europe is not Russia, but rather Europe’s frustrating situation due to immigration and the suppression of differing opinions in Europe.”

Dmitriev also described Trump as “a very strong, confident and powerful leader who does what is right.”

The pro-regime daily Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article titled: “Russia Achieves Success in Hard Talks with the US.“

“By the way, the normalization of relations between Moscow and Washington is a far more important issue for the whole world… than a ceasefire in Ukraine,” the article argued.

Earlier last week, the title of the daily show of Vladimir Solovyov, one of Russia’s top propagandists, was “The Interests of Trump’s America Are Aligned with Russia.” On the program, he offered historical commentary and claimed there was no reason for conflict between the US and Russia, blaming Europe for all wars.

“What does the US have to fight with us over? It’s no coincidence that in the late 18th and all of the 19th century, the US did not fight with us. The US was fighting Europe,” Solovyov claimed. “Russia, oddly enough, sided with America. And the US counted on [Russian support]. Geopolitically, if you look at it, the US has every reason to hate Europe and absolutely no problems with Russia.”

The state-owned daily Izvestia published an article analyzing why dialogue between Russia and the US remains challenging. Ivan Loshkaryov, an associate professor of political theory at MGIMO, argued that the issue is mutual misunderstanding. In the US, he claimed, “the prevailing political discourse portrays Russia as aggressive and sees a strong presidency as something that leads to imperial ambitions.”

“In the US, there is little awareness of how much Russia values restraint and harmony [in relations],” Loshkaryov was quoted by Izvestia as saying. “Meanwhile, in Russia there is an incorrect belief that Americans act cynically and are motivated solely by self-interest.”

He added that Americans “are taught a sense of superiority already in school and their worldview leaves little room for dialogue or… alternative value systems.”

An important issue for many Russians is the potential return of US businesses that left the country after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In March, the state news agency TASS interviewed Boris Titov, Putin’s “special representative to international organizations.” Titov was optimistic.

“I was in New York and met with US businesses there. They said they would come back,” Titov said.

In April, Dmitriev also told reporters that US companies were interested in taking over markets where European firms previously operated.

“We see: the kind of ideology-driven restrictions in place in EU countries may actually allow US companies to fill certain niches,” the Russian news agency Interfax quoted him as saying.

Another key issue in the Russia-US negotiations is the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. Duma Deputy Dmitri Novikov told the pro-Kremlin news site Lenta.ru that such a move would “help strengthen the development of economic and cultural ties and bilateral engagement, including what is often referred to as ‘people-to-people diplomacy.’”

But on Wednesday, April 9, the state news agency RIA Novosti sounded restrained as it reported on the list of topics for discussion in Istanbul the following day, which included returning diplomatic property, “getting rid of the toxic legacy of the Biden administration,” guarantees of banking services for diplomatic missions and issues related to visa issuance and travel restrictions.