Two months after the Berlin Wall fell, another powerful symbol opened its doors in the middle of Moscow: a gleaming new McDonald91裸聊视频檚.

It was the first American fast-food restaurant to enter the Soviet Union, reflecting the new political openness of the era. For Vlad Vexler, who as a 9-year-old waited in a two-hour line to enter the restaurant near Moscow91裸聊视频檚 Pushkin Square on its opening day in January 1990, it was a gateway to the utopia he imagined the West to be.

91裸聊视频淲e thought that life there was magical and there were no problems,91裸聊视频� Vexler said.

So it was all the more poignant for Vexler when McDonald91裸聊视频檚 announced it would temporarily close that store and nearly 850 others in response to Russia91裸聊视频檚 invasion of Ukraine.

91裸聊视频淭hat McDonald91裸聊视频檚 is a sign of optimism that in the end didn91裸聊视频檛 materialize,91裸聊视频� said Vexler, a political philosopher and author who now lives in London. 91裸聊视频淣ow that Russia is entering the period of contraction, isolation and impoverishment, you look back at these openings and think about what might have been.91裸聊视频�

McDonald91裸聊视频檚 said in a statement that 91裸聊视频渁t this juncture, it91裸聊视频檚 impossible to predict when we might be able to reopen our restaurants in Russia.91裸聊视频� But it is continuing to pay its 62,500 Russian employees. The company said this week that it expects the closure to cost around $50 million per month.

Outside a McDonald91裸聊视频檚 in Moscow last week, student Lev Shalpo bemoaned the closure.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 wrong because it was the only affordable place for me where I could eat,91裸聊视频� he said.

Just as McDonald91裸聊视频檚 paved the way for other brands to enter the Soviet market, its exit led to a from other U.S. brands. Starbucks closed its 130 outlets in Russia. Yum Brands closed its 70 company-owned KFC restaurants and was negotiating the closure of 50 Pizza Huts that are owned by franchisees.

McDonald91裸聊视频檚 entry into the Soviet Union began with a chance meeting. In 1976, McDonald91裸聊视频檚 loaned some buses to organizers of the 1980 Moscow Olympics who were touring Olympic venues in Montreal, Canada. George Cohon, then the head of McDonald91裸聊视频檚 in Canada, took the visitors to McDonald91裸聊视频檚 as part of the tour. That same night, the group began discussing ways to open a McDonald91裸聊视频檚 in the Soviet Union.

Fourteen years later, after Soviet laws loosened and McDonald91裸聊视频檚 built relationships with local farmers, the first McDonald91裸聊视频檚 opened in downtown Moscow. It was a sensation.

On its opening day, the restaurant91裸聊视频檚 27 cash registers rang up 30,000 meals. Vexler and his grandmother waited in a line with thousands of others to enter the 700-seat store, entertained by traditional Russian musicians and costumed characters like Mickey Mouse.

91裸聊视频淭he feeling was, 91裸聊视频楲et91裸聊视频檚 go and see how Westerners do things better. Let91裸聊视频檚 go and see what a healthy society has to offer,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� Vexler said.

Vexler saved money for weeks to buy his first McDonald91裸聊视频檚 meal: a cheeseburger, fries and a Coca-Cola. The food had a 91裸聊视频減lasticky goodness91裸聊视频� he had never experienced before, he said.

Eileen Kane visited the original McDonald91裸聊视频檚 often in 1991 and 1992 when she was an exchange student at Moscow State University. She found it a striking contrast from the rest of the country, which was suffering frequent food shortages as the Soviet Union collapsed.

91裸聊视频淢cDonald91裸聊视频檚 was bright and colorful and they never ran out of anything. It was like a party atmosphere,91裸聊视频� said Kane, who is now a history professor at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut.

McDonald91裸聊视频檚 entry into the Soviet Union was so groundbreaking it gave rise to a political theory. The Golden Arches Theory holds that two countries that both have McDonald91裸聊视频檚 in them won91裸聊视频檛 go to war, because the presence of a McDonald91裸聊视频檚 is an indicator of the countries91裸聊视频� level of inter-dependence and their alignment with U.S. laws, said Bernd Kaussler, a political science professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

That theory held until 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, Kaussler said.

Kaussler said the number of countries now withdrawing from Russia, and the speed with which they acted, is unprecedented. He thinks some __ including McDonald91裸聊视频檚 __ might calculate that it91裸聊视频檚 unwise to reopen, which would leave Russia more isolated and the world less secure.

91裸聊视频淎s the Russian economy is becoming less inter-dependent with the U.S. and Europe, we basically have fewer domestic economic factors that could mitigate current aggressive policies,91裸聊视频� Kaussler said.

Vexler said the admiration for the West that caused Russians to embrace McDonald91裸聊视频檚 three decades ago has also shifted. Russians now tend to be more anti-Western, he said.

Anastasia Chubina visited a McDonald91裸聊视频檚 in Moscow last week because her child wanted one last meal there. But she was indifferent about its closure, suggesting Russians will get healthier if they stop eating fast food.

91裸聊视频淚 think we lived without it before and will live further,91裸聊视频� she said.

Entrepreneur Yekaterina Kochergina said the closure could be a good opportunity for Russian fast-food brands to enter the market.

91裸聊视频淚t is sad, but it91裸聊视频檚 not a big deal. We91裸聊视频檒l survive without McDonald91裸聊视频檚,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频擠ee-ann Durbin, The Associated Press