Sitting on thin mattresses laid out on a concrete floor, three men from the Ghouta, the eastern district of Damascus that was attacked with chemical weapons, argued over their country's fate. Along with 22 other members of their families, they fled their homes a year ago and now share three rooms in a windowless, half-completed block of flats in a poor but safer part of Syria's capital. The district houses hundreds of displaced people.

"You don't know what benefits you had until you lose them," said Abu Humeid. "Education for your kids, peace, healthcare, security." Abu Humeid supported the uprising against President Assad's government when it started. Now, he said "most Syrians want a political solution to be found, because a war is easy to start but hard to end. We've had two and a half years of fighting and we've made no progress".

Saeed, his brother-in-law, poured tea on to a thick layer of sugar in small glasses that were passed round the room. He had been doubtful about the uprising from the beginning, he said. In spite of this fundamental disagreement, they were both relieved that President Obama has suspended his plan to launch missiles against Syria. "About half of our neighbours think the same. A similar number are still worried that he might attack later. No attack will bring any good. A few people want Obama to do it, but it's a sign of how frustrated and desperate they are with the lack of jobs and the misery of the way we have to live now. They just want to have everything finished off, even if they end up being killed themselves," said Saeed.

An older relative, who also initially supported the uprising, made the point starkly: "Negotiations are useless. I hope Obama strikes us all, us and the government, then we'll all be dead."

In the better-off districts of central Damascus, relief clearly outweighs such grim despair. Two weeks ago, when a US attack seemed imminent, people rushed to the shops to stock up on essentials. They stayed at home in the evenings. But now the cafes are full again and mothers push babies in buggies in the cool after dusk along tree-lined streets. Young people window-gaze in a pedestrian area full of fashion boutiques near the parliament building.

Even as the poorer districts fill up with escapees from the bombing of Ghouta and other outlying areas to the south and west, the city centre is emptier than it was in February. The wealthy have gone to Beirut or the Gulf.

The government has lifted travel bans on a number of people who supported the peaceful protests and demonstrations of 2011 in an apparent bid to get the politically active to leave. "I was taken in for interrogation by a security force general last month," said one female activist. "He was very polite, and at the end told me I had permission to go abroad. You don't need to return, he added."

Disappointed that Obama has postponed the air strikes, which she felt should have been launched as part of a no-fly zone long before the chemical weapons furore, she was astonished that Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, had agreed to abandon the country's chemical arsenal. "In one move, Assad has thrown away years of effort in building [the chemical weapons] up, as well as his claim to be part of the resistance to Israel. They always said they needed them because Israel has nuclear weapons. Now he's giving them up to save his skin. It shows his cynicism."

In the Christian part of the walled Old City, Mirna Medaa, a hotel receptionist, was unhappy that Syria had abandoned its chemical weapons. "We don't believe our president or the Syrian army used them, but it's not good to give them up. Israel has the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons in the world, as well as nuclear ones. The US has their defences. Why should we give ours up? I hope we have peace. If there is a peace agreement, then we won't need to use them."

Syria's pro-government media do not disguise their satisfaction that the US attacks have been put on hold. But they mainly avoid gloating or describing it as victory. Nasser Mundher, a columnist in al Thawra, the official Ba'ath party paper, wrote yesterday: "The people who wanted to destroy Syria and were applauding the plan to attack are shocked now. They're holding their breath and hope it will still happen, but Russia's plan has stopped the attacks and given Obama a safe let-out from the problem he created for himself by drawing red lines and making threats."

Some Damascenes say they never thought Obama was serious about attacking Syria. Louai Hussein, who heads Building the Syrian State, a civil society group that campaigns for democratic reforms and has long criticised the way the opposition took up arms, believes the US is manoeuvring before the long-delayed Geneva II conference on Syria. Hussein is convinced John Kerry's suggestion at a press conference in London that Syria could avoid the air strikes if it gave up chemical weapons was choreographed by President Putin with Mr Obama at the G20 summit.

"In May the US began to feel the Syrian conflict was getting out of control and this was not in Israel's interest," Hussein said. "Kerry is trying to collect more cards before Geneva. That's why he used the chemical weapons issue to produce a new card in the threat of air strikes."

Hussein hoped this week's talks between the Russian and US ministers will not only produce agreement on chemical weapons but moves to accelerate the convening of Geneva II – something that could end the entire war, not just the use of chemical weapons.