The key facts

  • Alexey Chepa: the Democrats' victory will 'not affect, for the moment,' the talks on Ukraine
  • The Democratic Party won a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate
  • Chepa sees no reason to expect an improvement in relations with Russia

Assessment by a State Duma deputy

The Democratic Party's victory in the US midterm elections will 'not affect, for the moment,' the peace talks on Ukraine. This opinion was expressed by Alexey Chepa, first deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on international affairs, as reported by the Telegram channel 'Ostorozhno, novosti' (Careful, News).

The parliamentarian's arguments

According to Chepa, the results of the midterm elections to both chambers of the US Congress were predictable. He noted that the approval rating of US President Donald Trump among Americans is quite low — only a third of the population trusts him. The deputy added that the election results will create difficulties for US domestic and foreign policy. 'Relations with Russia are not easy, we are in a negotiation process, and I see no reason to expect any improvement,' — he is quoted as saying by Gazeta.Ru.

Election results

As a result of the midterm elections held on November 3, the Democratic Party won a majority in the House of Representatives in addition to the Senate. According to Associated Press, in the Senate the Democrats won 53 seats against 42 mandates for the Republicans, and in the House of Representatives — 221 seats against 129 for the Republicans. Earlier, American analysts named two reasons for the Republicans' defeat in the congressional elections.