Photo: Collected
‘President Trump will remain in power until the last day of his term and will continue to implement his own foreign policy.’ — Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave this reply on Monday (4 November) when asked whether the results of the US midterm elections would affect the Kremlin.
The gist of what Peskov said in an interview with BBC Russia editor Steve Rosenberg was this — whatever the outcome of the election, Moscow expects relations with the US to remain as normal as before.
President Donald Trump may not have fully met Russia’s expectations. In particular, he has not been able to secure a final, formal peace agreement ending the Ukraine war on Russia’s terms. Even so, his foreign policy has created a number of favourable conditions for the Kremlin.
Trump recently suspended several US sanctions imposed on Russia. The US has also decided to buy diesel from Russia. Besides, Trump has not appeared as tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin as he has been vocal in criticising Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Earlier this week, however, the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote of fears of a different scenario. The paper forecast that if the Republican Party loses control of Congress in the midterm elections, Donald Trump could become entangled in several investigations launched by the Democrats.
That could disrupt his political focus and administrative work. According to the paper, in such a situation it could become difficult for Trump to implement his preferred policies on various issues, including Russia.
Background
According to a CBS News count on 3 November, before the election Republicans held 218 seats in the House of Representatives (plus one independent on their side) and Democrats 214; in the Senate there were 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats.
According to an ABC News projection, the Democrats are set to win control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections — WFTV Channel 9 reported this on 4 November.
Sources
Background sources: CBS News, 3 November 2026; WFTV Channel 9 / Yahoo News, 4 November 2026
