Russians knew who Trump was already in 2018-19.
Russia was willing to give this Admin a chance, while Russian General Staff was dealing with REAL strategy. Trump blew it, big time and that was clear after roughly first 100 of his presidency. As The Times notes:
The US policy reversal came as Trump appeared to be re-evaluating his relations with Putin. In an unusually frank admission of failure, the US president confessed last week that he had been unable to use his “great relationship” with the Russian leader to secure a peace deal in Ukraine, or even a ceasefire.
Trump didn't want any "peace deal" in 404, he wanted a pause for the combined West while satisfying his narcissists' aspirations. The choice was between Trump and a real high probability of nuclear exchange if the cackling idiotess would have been elected. Russians naturally supported the lesser of the two evils. In the end, the United States cannot be a mediator--it is an instigator and a party to the conflict and because of that it is a losing side. Trump better concentrate on what he does best--promoting Israel's interests at the expense of the American ones.
