US: Putin said Europe is relying on the midterm elections to put pressure on Trump
US: 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 at his yearly “Direct Line” end-of-year news conference in Moscow, which is a four-and-a-half-hour Q&A session with media and residents.
During President Trump’s second term, the United States will have its next midterm elections on November 3, 2026. The 120th US Congress will be shaped by the electorate, who will choose 35 of the 100 senators and all 435 members of the US House of Representatives.
Midterm elections in the US have historically tended to go against the incumbent president. As people utilize the polls to voice their displeasure with the government, the party in power often loses seats in Congress, sometimes by a sizable majority.
Putin covered a broad variety of foreign topics at the event, such as NATO’s eastward expansion, the European Union’s plans to leverage Russia’s blocked central bank assets, and security agreements related to prospective elections in Ukraine as part of peace efforts.
Although he emphasized that long-term solutions must address what Moscow views as the conflict’s underlying roots, he said that Russia wants peace and stability.
“We, too, would very much like to live in peace next year, free of any military conflicts,” Putin said. “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 while discussing ties with the alliance.
He said, “There won’t be any military operations if you treat us with respect and respect our interests,” adding that although Russia does not deny nations the right to self-defense, it is adamant that such decisions shouldn’t endanger other nations.
Putin also described blocking Kaliningrad as a major danger of escalation and cautioned against doing so.
He said, “If we are threatened in this way, we will eliminate these threats,” cautioning that doing so would escalate the confrontation to a far more deadly and expansive level.
According to Russia Today, Putin said that despite the tensions, Russia is still willing to work with Western countries, such as the US, UK, and Europe, as long as the partnership is founded on equality and respect for one another.
“If we ultimately reach this point, everyone will benefit,” he said.
Putin said that Western nations and Kyiv’s leadership are now in charge of the US-brokered peace initiatives in Ukraine.
He said that Russia is ready to talks and a peaceful resolution, but that “the ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kiev regime and their European sponsors,”
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the need of resilience in undermining Russia’s capacity to extend the conflict, explicitly connecting the possibilities for European peace with persistent pressure on Moscow.
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 kind 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 said, placing Ukraine’s determination in the context of a larger plan to prevent further escalation.