Russian state media outlets reported that American voters delivered a rebuke to President Donald Trump on Tuesday night, as Kremlin officials have insisted that their ties with Washington are business as usual. The Kremlin keeps Russian newspapers on a tight leash and outlets and state television in the restricted media environment broadly welcomed Trump's return to the presidency in 2025 as beneficial to Moscow's interests. But that position has shifted over two years, during which Trump envoys held Ukraine War talks with Vladimir Putin, Congress passed tough sanctions, and then waivers were given for Russian diesel exports ahead of the midterms.
On Wednesday, Russian newspapers reported that Trump suffered a significant blow and offered assessments for what it might mean for the war in Ukraine started by Putin. One pundit even said that Trump's Cabinet might push him toward a move on the government in Cuba. "Donald Trump did not live up to his own expectations" was the headline featured in the business newspaper Kommersant, which, like U.S. newspapers, pinned Democrat gains in the Senate and the House of Representatives on the cost of living and a spike in gas prices caused by the Iran war.
The midterm election results could have consequences for Russia's war with Ukraine, as a Democrat-led Congress could be favorable to punishing Putin and providing Kyiv with more military aid. Majda Ruge, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) told Newsweek the results could mean greater transparency about Trump's foreign policy choices. "This includes hearings and investigations into Trump's 'business diplomacy' on Russia-Ukraine, in Western Balkans, Gulf states and Gaza," she said.
The mass-circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda asked analysts for their take on the U.S. midterms for Russia. Political scientist Ivan Pyatibratov said, "Trump's rapprochement with Russia will be hampered," and that Democrats could push for more military aid to Ukraine and demand tougher sanctions on Moscow. "However, the president has veto power," he said, adding the result did not mean Trump would abandon better ties with Moscow, "but it will make it more difficult for him to move in this direction." Andrey Manoylo, a political professor from Moscow State University told the same paper that result delivering at least 54 senators for Democrats and defeats in red states represents "a serious loss of public confidence in Trump.” He also suggested that Trump "may try to cover up his defeat with a military adventure," adding that "Cuba is on his agenda." "Secretary of State Rubio and the Cuban lobby, which has invested heavily in the project to overthrow the government on the island, will push him toward it." Rossiskaya Gazyeta, the newspaper that is the Kremlin mouthpiece, said in an op-ed headlined "Apocalypse Today" that the U.S. midterms ended up being "an unspoken vote of confidence in the head of the White House himself." It noted that the president had thrown himself onto the campaign trail, but "the strategy chosen by Trump turned out to be a failure." The piece by Evgeny Shestakov predicted that Trump will now face investigations on charges of corruption and enrichment, and that there will be renewed scrutiny of the president's links with Jeffrey Epstein.
Media outlets referred to Trump's comments about using his veto in his remaining two years in office, and the Kremlin's line is that there will be no change in Washington's foreign policy toward Moscow, given that it is the preserve of the president. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Trump "will continue his mandate," adding, "We sincerely hope that he will continue his peacekeeping efforts," referring to the possible trilateral talks with China on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. Aurélien Colson, co-director of the Center for Geopolitics, Defense & Leadership at ESSEC Business School, told Newsweek on Tuesday that an electoral setback may not moderate Trump’s approach to Russia but could make him feel less constrained by electoral considerations.
"What would change dramatically, however, is the political environment around his Russia policy," Colson said. "Trump could continue negotiating with Putin but those negotiations would take place under much more intense scrutiny." "The midterms may not change Trump’s preferences toward Russia, but they could substantially increase the political cost and public visibility of implementing those preferences." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow's position on Ukraine, would "not depend on fluctuations in the political barometer in other countries." Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Geoffrey Rowland.
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