Kyiv, Ukraine – Kyrylo, a wounded drone technician from jap Ukraine, doesn’t care a lot concerning the outcomes of midterm elections in the US.
Tuesday’s vote introduced on a “blue wave” of victories for the Democratic Celebration, which can management each homes within the new Congress and supply a examine on President Donald Trump.
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But it surely means little to the Ukrainian servicemen.
“We already discovered how to not rely on America,” mentioned the 37-year-old, who’s recovering from a heavy contusion in a Kyiv hospital after a Russian glide bomb hit his bunker.
He requested Al Jazeera to withhold his final identify in accordance with wartime protocol.
“Trump has allow us to down so many occasions, bought us to Russia and we’re nonetheless standing and kicking Russian [butt],” he mentioned. “We not rely on American cash and weaponry. The entire world desires to purchase our drones now.”
Underneath Trump, Washington regularly stopped footing a lot of Ukraine’s wartime payments. Whereas the quantity of economic and navy help almost reached $200bn from Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion to late 2024, since 2025, the US help has slowed to a trickle.
From October 2025 to March, Kyiv acquired a mere $8.2bn in navy help as a part of “legacy pipelines” courting again to US President Joe Biden’s administration. The offers could have price one other $13bn when the provides are over.
Despite the fact that Europe took over many of the monetary weight, coughing up $83bn in 2025 alone, virtually a 3rd of all weaponry comes from US firms, in response to the Kiel Institute, a German assume tank.
Some help could also be restored, and the Democrats have pledged to scrutinise Trump’s ties to Russia and conduct sweeping investigations targeted on alleged corruption throughout the Trump household.
The investigations will embody their ties to Russian politicians, intelligence and oligarchs, equivalent to Umar Kremlev, who reportedly paid lots of of hundreds of {dollars} for Donald Trump Jr’s wedding ceremony celebrations within the Bahamas in Could.
The Democrats have already signalled their readiness to problem subpoenas and power the disclosure of govt department information, together with those associated to Ukraine, as soon as they take management of Congress on January 3.
“Ukraine’s positions could turn into stronger,” Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Kyiv-based Penta assume tank, informed Al Jazeera. “However we have to maintain bipartisan help.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned of the midterm outcomes, “We now have bipartisan help.” He mentioned he was “grateful to the Republicans, however Democrats very clearly state their help of Ukraine and offering help to it.”
Lack of Ukraine-supporting Republicans
However getting extra backing from the US Congress is just not going to be simple as a number of Republicans who supported Ukraine have misplaced their seats.
The “blue wave” unseated Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who cochaired the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and was considered one of Kyiv’s staunchest supporters.
Different notable pro-Ukrainian Republicans are Don Bacon of Nebraska, a self-described “Reaganite” staunchly against Russia, and Mike Lawler of New York, who voted for the Ukraine Assist Act.
On the identical time, Kyiv must appoint a brand new ambassador to Washington. Olha Stefanishyna, a former deputy prime minister, was fired in August throughout a probe into her “unlawful enrichment”.
The ambassador works with Congress and organises contacts with Kyiv and journeys by lawmakers to Ukraine.
“That’s why to start with a brand new ambassador needs to be appointed,” Fesenko mentioned.
And whereas some supporters of the Democrats urge their social gathering to question Trump, Kyiv could be on the dropping facet, analysts mentioned.
“God forbid if Ukraine turns into the main focus of a [third] impeachment due to the damaging expertise throughout Trump’s first presidency,” Fesenko mentioned. “It made Trump type a steady damaging angle in direction of Ukraine.”
Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 involved accusations that he pressured Kyiv to analyze Biden and Biden’s son Hunter, who had been on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian pure gasoline firm implicated in corruption schemes.
The Democrats mentioned Trump froze $390m in navy help to Ukraine as leverage at a time when Kyiv badly wanted US arms to proceed combating Russia-backed separatists.
Now, earlier than the brand new Congress takes workplace, Trump is prone to strain Ukraine to simply accept a fast-tracked peace take care of Russia.
“As a result of when Russia isn’t prepared to concede, the quickest method to resolve the matter – both by a truce or by freezing the struggle – is barely attainable if [Trump] twists Kyiv’s arms,” Kyiv-based analyst Igar Tyshkevych informed Al Jazeera.
“That’s why the subsequent two months can be somewhat sophisticated for Ukraine,” he mentioned.
As a result of Trump in the mean time has Republican majorities in each homes, he’ll “attempt to present the effectiveness of his insurance policies to lower the attainable stage of confrontation with the brand new Congress”, Tyshkevych mentioned.
The brand new Congress should take care of a dilemma rooted in allegations of corruption involving high Ukrainian officers and their purported embezzlement of US help.
“On the one hand, there’s a political conviction to maintain supporting Ukraine and however the political necessity to place an finish to questions, suspicions and accusations of Ukrainian leaders in corruption,” he mentioned.
Professional-Kremlin voices are already counting Moscow’s attainable losses.
“The Democrats will double down on their efforts to stop Trump from establishing a dialogue with Moscow, demand the resumption of direct US navy help to Kyiv, insist on the restoration of transatlantic unity on the Ukrainian problem and suggest new sanctions in opposition to Russia and its most important buying and selling companions,” Moscow-based political analyst Andrey Kortunov wrote in an opinion piece for the Kommersant every day.
The Democrats “will provoke investigations into how he negotiates with us”, Moscow-based analyst Malek Dudakov informed the Gazeta.ru every day.
The Russian Ministry of International Affairs dismissed the issues, saying Moscow’s overseas insurance policies “don’t rely on the fluctuations of the political barometer in different nations”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in the meantime, spoke in flattering phrases, saying, “President Trump continues to train his powers. We sincerely hope that he’ll proceed his peacemaking efforts.”
