According to Russia Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Friday that European elites are anticipating the US midterm elections in the hopes of a political change that could restore Washington's longstanding allies to power and put more pressure on US President Donald Trump.
Putin made the comments during his yearly "Direct Line" end of year news conference in Moscow, which is a four and a half hour Q&A session with journalists and residents.
The United States will have its next midterm elections on November 3, 2026, during the second term of President Trump.
In order to determine the makeup of the 120th US Congress, voters will choose 35 of the 100 members of the US Senate and all 435 members of the US House of Representatives.
US midterm elections have a history of working against the current president. As voters utilize the polls to voice their displeasure with the administration, the party in power typically loses seats in Congress, frequently by a sizable margin.
Putin spoke at the event about a variety of foreign topics, such as NATO's eastward expansion, the European Union's plans to leverage Russia's blocked central bank assets, and security agreements related to possible elections in Ukraine as part of peace efforts.
He emphasized that long term solutions must address what Moscow views as the underlying roots of the conflict, even though Russia wants peace and stability.
"We, too, would very much like to live in peace next year, free of any military conflicts," Putin stated. "We need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict so that peace is long lasting and sustainable."
Putin accused NATO of violating previous promises when discussing relations with the alliance. He stated, "There won't be any military operations if you treat us with respect and respect our interests," adding that while Russia does not deny nations the right to self defense, it is adamant that such decisions shouldn't endanger other nations.
Additionally, Putin called any move to restrict Kaliningrad a major risk of escalation and issued a warning against it. He declared, "If we are threatened in this way, we will eliminate these threats," cautioning that doing so would escalate the confrontation to a far more serious and dangerous level.
According to Russia Today, Putin stated that despite tensions, Russia is still willing to work with Western countries, such as the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom, as long as their relationships are founded on equality and respect for one another.
"If we ultimately reach this point, everyone will benefit," he stated. Putin stated that Western nations and Kyiv's leadership are now in charge of US brokered peace initiatives pertaining to Ukraine.
He stated that Russia is amenable to talks and a peaceful resolution. "The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kiev regime and their European sponsors," he added.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, emphasized on Thursday the significance of resilience in undermining Russia's capacity to extend the current conflict, explicitly connecting persistent pressure on Moscow to the likelihood of European peace.
Zelenskyy highlighted endurance as a strategic factor in a post on X, writing, "If we know and if Putin knows that we can stay resilient, then his reason to drag out this war becomes much weaker," framing resilience as a tool that modifies the aggressor's calculations and influences the conflict's overall course.
Expanding on this, the president of Ukraine defined resilience as a type of pressure meant to alter Russia's strategy in the conflict.
"This is how pressure on the aggressor should work pressure that brings peace," he stated, placing Ukraine's determination in the context of a larger plan to prevent additional escalation.
