Peace in Ukraine may be receding; “domestic issues” and Russia’s wait-and-see attitude – echoes of the US midterm elections

Russia's Putin administration has positioned the U.S. midterm elections as an "internal issue," and is ostensibly taking a wait-and-see attitude. However, now that the opposition Democratic Party has regained the majority in the US Congress, if support for Ukraine increases, it will be a blow to Russia.

US midterm elections, Republican Party loses heavily; Democratic Party regains majority in both houses of Congress - Trump's unifying force weakens

U.S. President Trump has so far used aid to Ukraine as leverage to try to get Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to accept peace. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, has taken a critical position, saying that the Trump administration has made too many concessions to Russia, and there is a possibility that Russia may view a diplomatic solution as difficult and intensify its attacks.

Bloomberg reported on the 3rd, citing sources in the Russian presidential palace, that Russia will seek further relaxation of US sanctions against Russia. In October, Mr. Trump reached an agreement with President Putin to supply Russian-produced diesel oil in order to curb the price of diesel oil. The US Treasury has partially lifted sanctions against Russia. Russia hopes to make this a precedent, but with Trump losing control of Congress, early economic cooperation is unlikely.

When asked in late October about the outlook for U.S.-Russian relations after the election, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov simply replied, ``We are not in the business of making predictions.''