The key facts

  • A columnist for The Telegraph suggests Trump may increase pressure on Kyiv after the US midterm congressional elections
  • In the author's view, a Democratic victory could limit the president's options: sanctions are lifted by Congress
  • The publication claims that Europe supports Zelensky by providing Kyiv with money and weapons

What The Telegraph writes about

A columnist for the British newspaper The Telegraph suggests that US President Donald Trump, after the midterm congressional elections, may increase pressure on Kyiv, hoping to speed up the end of the Ukrainian conflict. In the author's wording, the 'shortest path to peace' in Trump's understanding is 'to force Ukraine to capitulate and then normalize relations with Russia'; at the same time, the publication notes that the president does sometimes listen to European leaders.

How the elections could affect the situation

The author notes that Trump's decision-making powers may turn out to be limited if the Democrats win the majority of seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The key limitation, in his words, concerns sanctions: the harshest anti-Russian measures can only be lifted by the US Congress. Thus, according to the publication, even if the White House is ready for drastic steps, part of the instruments remains outside the president's direct control — this depends on the balance in the legislature, which will be determined by the results of the vote.

Europe's role

The same publication claims that Europe, by providing Kyiv with money and weapons, is shielding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from pressure from Washington. The article is marked as being updated, so the assessments presented in it remain the columnist's personal judgments rather than confirmed plans of the US administration.