{"id":14581,"date":"2026-11-08T10:06:59","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=14581"},"modified":"2026-11-08T10:06:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:06:59","slug":"democrats-congressional-win-could-strengthen-ukraines-hand-against-russia-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=14581","title":{"rendered":"Democrats\u2019 congressional win could strengthen Ukraine\u2019s hand against Russia | News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kyiv, Ukraine \u2013<\/strong> Kyrylo, a wounded drone technician from eastern Ukraine, does not care much about the results of midterm elections in the United States.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s vote brought on a \u201cblue wave\u201d of victories for the Democratic Party, which will control both houses in the new Congress and provide a check on President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

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But it means little to the Ukrainian servicemen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already learned how not to depend on America,\u201d said the 37-year-old, who is recovering from a heavy contusion in a Kyiv hospital after a Russian glide bomb hit his bunker.<\/p>\n

He asked Al Jazeera to withhold his last name in accordance with wartime protocol.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has let us down so many times, sold us to Russia and we\u2019re still standing and kicking Russian [butt],\u201d he said. \u201cWe no longer depend on American money and weaponry. The whole world wants to buy our drones now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FILE
Ukrainian service members walk next to a launcher of a Patriot air defence system in an undisclosed location, Ukraine, August 4, 2024 [Valentyn Ogirenko\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Under Trump, Washington gradually stopped footing much of Ukraine\u2019s wartime bills. While the amount of financial and military aid nearly reached $200bn from Russia\u2019s 2022 full-scale invasion to late 2024, since 2025, the US assistance has slowed to a trickle.<\/p>\n

From October 2025 to March, Kyiv received a mere $8.2bn in military aid as part of \u201clegacy pipelines\u201d dating back to US President Joe Biden\u2019s administration. The deals will have cost another $13bn when the supplies are over.<\/p>\n

Even though Europe took over most of the financial weight, coughing up $83bn in 2025 alone, almost a third of all weaponry comes from US companies, according to the Kiel Institute, a German think tank.<\/p>\n

Some aid may be restored, and the Democrats have pledged to scrutinise Trump\u2019s ties to Russia and conduct sweeping investigations focused on alleged corruption within the Trump family.<\/p>\n

The investigations will include their ties to Russian politicians, intelligence and oligarchs, such as Umar Kremlev, who reportedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for Donald Trump Jr\u2019s wedding celebrations in the Bahamas in May.<\/p>\n

The Democrats have already signalled their readiness to issue subpoenas and force the disclosure of executive branch records, including the ones related to Ukraine, once they take control of Congress on January 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine\u2019s positions may become stronger,\u201d Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera. \u201cBut we need to keep bipartisan support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said of the midterm results, \u201cWe have bipartisan support.\u201d He said he was \u201cthankful to the Republicans, but Democrats very clearly state their support of Ukraine and providing aid to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loss of Ukraine-supporting Republicans<\/h2>\n

But getting more backing from the US Congress is not going to be easy as several Republicans who supported Ukraine have lost their seats.<\/p>\n

The \u201cblue wave\u201d unseated Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who cochaired the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and was one of Kyiv\u2019s staunchest supporters.<\/p>\n

Other notable pro-Ukrainian Republicans are Don Bacon of Nebraska, a self-described \u201cReaganite\u201d staunchly opposed to Russia, and Mike Lawler of New York, who voted for the Ukraine Support Act.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Kyiv needs to appoint a new ambassador to Washington. Olha Stefanishyna, a former deputy prime minister, was fired in August during a probe into her \u201cillegal enrichment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"A
A woman stands at the site of her in-laws\u2019 house destroyed during a Russian air strike on the outskirts of Dnipro, Ukraine October 19, 2026 [Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ambassador works with Congress and organises contacts with Kyiv and trips by lawmakers to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why first of all a new ambassador has to be appointed,\u201d Fesenko said.<\/p>\n

And while some supporters of the Democrats urge their party to impeach Trump, Kyiv would be on the losing side, analysts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod forbid if Ukraine becomes the focus of a [third] impeachment because of the negative experience during Trump\u2019s first presidency,\u201d Fesenko said. \u201cIt made Trump form a stable negative attitude towards Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s first impeachment in 2019 concerned accusations that he pressured Kyiv to investigate Biden and Biden\u2019s son Hunter, who had been on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian natural gas company implicated in corruption schemes.<\/p>\n

The Democrats said Trump froze $390m in military aid to Ukraine as leverage at a time when Kyiv badly needed US arms to continue fighting Russia-backed separatists.<\/p>\n

Now, before the new Congress takes office, Trump is likely to pressure Ukraine to accept a fast-tracked peace deal with Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause when Russia isn\u2019t willing to concede, the fastest way to solve the matter \u2013 either through a truce or through freezing the war \u2013 is only possible if [Trump] twists Kyiv\u2019s arms,\u201d Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why the next two months will be rather complicated for Ukraine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Because Trump at the moment has Republican majorities in both houses, he will \u201ctry to show the effectiveness of his policies to decrease the possible level of confrontation with the new Congress\u201d, Tyshkevych said.<\/p>\n

The new Congress will have to deal with a dilemma rooted in allegations of corruption involving top Ukrainian officials and their purported embezzlement of US aid.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the one hand, there\u2019s a political conviction to keep supporting Ukraine and on the other hand the political necessity to put an end to questions, suspicions and accusations of Ukrainian leaders in corruption,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pro-Kremlin voices are already counting Moscow\u2019s possible losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democrats will double down on their efforts to prevent Trump from establishing a dialogue with Moscow, demand the resumption of direct US military aid to Kyiv, insist on the restoration of transatlantic unity on the Ukrainian issue and propose new sanctions against Russia and its main trading partners,\u201d Moscow-based political analyst Andrey Kortunov wrote in an opinion piece for the Kommersant daily.<\/p>\n

The Democrats \u201cwill initiate investigations into how he negotiates with us\u201d, Moscow-based analyst Malek Dudakov told the Gazeta.ru daily.<\/p>\n

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismissed the concerns, saying Moscow\u2019s foreign policies \u201cdon\u2019t depend on the fluctuations of the political barometer in other nations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, spoke in flattering terms, saying, \u201cPresident Trump continues to exercise his powers. We sincerely hope that he will continue his peacemaking efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Kyiv, Ukraine \u2013 Kyrylo, a wounded drone technician from eastern Ukraine, does not care much about the results of midterm elections in the United States. Tuesday\u2019s vote brought on a \u201cblue wave\u201d of victories for the Democratic Party, which will control both houses in the new Congress and provide a check on President Donald Trump….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t