In Moscow’s Novodevichy Park there’s an uncommon attraction which has develop into a daily cease on the town’s sightseeing excursions.
It is uncommon due to what it represents – friendship between Russia and the USA.
It’s a assortment of 9 squat statues – a mom mallard and her eight ducklings, waddling alongside behind her.
Replicas of a sculpture in Boston, Massachusetts, they had been offered to Moscow in 1991 by then US First Woman Barbara Bush, after her counterpart Raisa Gorbachev was stated to have admired the unique.
The plaque subsequent to the geese describes them as a “gift to the children of the Soviet Union”.
So in gentle of the most recent try at a rapprochement, is duck diplomacy nonetheless afloat? Do Russians consider Donald Trump can cease the conflict in Ukraine?
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These geese, in Moscow, are replicas of a sculpture in Boston, Massachusetts
One girl we meet, Olga, is dismissive. “It is not American negotiations that will bring about the end of the Special Military Operation, but only our Russian interests,” she says, taking a break from strolling laps of the park’s frozen pond.
Any thaw in relations, she believes, shall be on Vladimir Putin’s phrases: “If we achieve what our leaders have outlined – by the way I support it – then the Special Military Operation will probably end.”
One other bus pulls up earlier than a gaggle of vacationers comply with their information to the statues, their formation mirroring that of the figures they’ve come to see.
Some stroke the bronze beaks, others take selfies. It is unclear if their curiosity is within the sculpture’s symbolism or its novelty.
Valeria is on the sting of the group together with her younger son, having travelled to Moscow from Perm. In December, she buried her husband, Aleksey, who died combating in Ukraine. All she desires is for the conflict to be over.
“I think it will all end soon,” she says, viewing the decision between Putin and Trump as grounds for optimism.
“I really hope for it, because my husband died on his own. He signed a contract, and it turned out that he died.
“So we nonetheless hope that [the war] will finish sometime.”
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The Beverly Hills Diner in Moscow
Throughout city, one other uncommon sight. Once more, it entails statues. There’s one of many Blues Brothers; one other of Elvis Presley.
We have come to Beverly Hills Diner, a uncommon pocket of Americana within the Russian capital, to swap geese for double cheeseburgers.
Among the many prospects are Viktoria and Natalya. The 2 associates share a desk however not the identical views on the negotiations.
“Well, it doesn’t depend on only two presidents,” Viktoria says, believing President Zelenskyy needs to be invited to the desk too.
“There should be at least three sides. The other side should also agree to this.”
In line with Natalya, although, any contact is best than none, even when Kyiv is frozen out.
“I really like that at least bridges are being built for these negotiations,” she says, including how blissful she’d be if the American president accepted Vladimir Putin’s invitation to Moscow.
“We have a beautiful country, a beautiful city,” she says, beaming.
“We have something to show, something to be proud of. So, of course, I would really like him to see it.”
If Donald Trump was to go to Moscow, I’m wondering which web site he would like to see – the geese or the diner?
