They expect less aid to Ukraine and more chaos

Russian politicians yesterday rejoiced over the preliminary results of the US mid-term elections, which they interpreted as a humiliating blow to Democratic President Joe Biden, but the Kremlin said it did not expect any improvement in relations between the US and Russia.

The election is being watched closely in Russia, which wants Washington to end its generous aid program to Ukraine. Some pro-Kremlin Russians hope that Republican successes could make it harder for Biden to win approval for military aid packages to Ukraine in the future.

For now, however, few in Moscow expect the bipartisan American political consensus on Ukraine to be eroded, regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's election. Nor do they expect support for Kyiv to decline significantly in the near future, writes Reuters.

Pro-Kremlin hawks also hope the election will deepen political problems in the US and weaken the foundations of a country they see as a major geopolitical adversary whose dominance they believe is coming to an end.

"The victory of the Republicans in the elections for the US Congress will not lead to a revolution in American foreign policy and to the end of Washington's support to Ukraine," said Alexei Pushkov, a Russian senator and foreign policy expert.

"However, it will be more difficult for the Biden administration to push financial aid programs for Kiev through Congress, and the position of American critics of unlimited aid to Ukraine will significantly strengthen."

The report compiled by the Moscow Institute for International Studies concluded based on the mood of the American establishment and voters, that it is unlikely that the elections will significantly change the US policy towards Ukraine. Polls ahead of the election showed that voters are mostly concerned with domestic issues such as inflation and crime.

Initial election results showed Republicans making modest gains, but control of Congress and the future of Biden's agenda were unclear yesterday.

"The first results of the US elections ... are a confirmation that the world to which grandfather Biden was accustomed is disappearing," wrote former President Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram. Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of Russia's National Security Council, is a close associate of President Vladimir Putin.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, expressed satisfaction that, he said, the Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives.

"President Biden's supporters suffer a defeat in the US elections. Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and Armenia ended with the loss of the position of the chairman," said Volodin.

The Kremlin, however, has made it clear that it does not see any positive aspect of the US midterm elections regardless of the outcome. He rejected claims, which appeared in some American newspapers, that Russia tried to interfere in the American vote.

"These elections are important, but there is no need to exaggerate their short- or medium-term significance for our relations," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"These elections cannot fundamentally change anything. Relations are bad and will remain so," Peskov said.

Russian ultra-nationalist circles believe that the mid-term elections will have a favorable impact on their long-term interests.

Constantinople (Tsargrad), a portal and TV station funded by sanctioned Russian ultra-nationalist tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev, predicts that the election will ultimately lead to the downfall of America.

"At a critical moment in world history, these elections could have a major impact on the geopolitical environment, and Ukraine in particular," Constantinople announced.

"But it could also be the detonator of domestic centrifugal forces that could mean the end of the United States as we know it today," the Russian portal reported, citing the theoretical possibility of civil war due to political polarization and contested election results.

In such a dramatic scenario, Washington would not have the capacity to continue implementing its policy towards Ukraine, predicts Constantinople.

In a column for state news agency RIA, columnist Pyotr Akopov also predicts that Russia will be the real winner of the US election as the vote deepens political divisions ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

"Even if they survive as a single country, the US will change dramatically and its global position will weaken under any circumstances," Akopov wrote.

"The conflict with China will require the mobilization of all the country's global resources, and care for Europe will weaken significantly. Without a strong and united USA, the West will not be able to maintain control over the territories west of Russia for a long time," he assessed.