In recent weeks, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined a group of European leaders in Kiev.

On Sunday, the light seemed to sterilise the streets of Kyiv, turning the drab of certain brutalist buildings virtually white for the first time since the Russians left.

Despite the occasional air raid siren, several people here wove through tank hedgehogs, armed troops, and sandbag fences in search of a reopened café with outdoor seating or an Orthodox Easter celebration.

The Ukrainian capital, still split between the horrific terrors of a Russian assault launched through the late winter muck and the longing for the tranquilly of a dazzling spring day, also hosted two top American officials whose furtive visit reflected the city’s unsettling new position.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Kiev alongside a group of European politicians.

It was a physical demonstration of their faith in the country’s defences, which are now being put to the test in the east and south after holding firm against Russian forces around Kyiv, where residents are pushing to return to some semblance of prewar life despite the trauma — and threat — of Russian attacks.

“We certainly observed people on the streets of Kyiv, proof that the war for Kyiv was won and that there is — what appears to be regular life in Kyiv, at least on the surface,” he added.

“However, this is in sharp contrast to what is happening elsewhere in Ukraine.”