Zelenskyy hopes a Democratic Congress will bring Ukraine more US help
Ukraine's president says Democratic midterm gains could restore a stronger US-Europe link and unlock more American support, ahead of US-led talks in Abu Dhabi next week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he hopes the Democratic Party's sweeping victory in the United States midterm elections will bring more American help for Ukraine, as Kyiv looks for fresh momentum in a war that has now lasted more than four and a half years.
Zelenskyy made the remarks in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, after American voters handed control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives to the Democrats, ending two years of Republican control in Congress. The comments were released ahead of the interview's broadcast, and they quickly became one of the first international reactions to a result that is expected to reshape Washington's foreign policy debate.
In the interview, Zelenskyy drew a clear contrast between the two parties on Ukraine, while still thanking Republicans for past support. He said the Democrats spoke very clearly about supporting Ukraine and providing assistance, and that they also spoke about renewing the connection between the United States and Europe, a link he described as central to Kyiv's security.
That, he argued, was why there was hope that a new balance of power would emerge in Washington and that Ukraine would receive more support. The point was not only about money or weapons, he suggested, but about the political signal a united Congress could send: if lawmakers now spoke of strong financial support or military assistance, as Europe was already doing, it would be something positive that could have an impact on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The timing matters because direct American support for Ukraine has been a live and contested question under President Donald Trump, who has largely halted direct financial and military aid despite broad support for assistance among lawmakers from both parties. Democratic aides have told American media that helping Kyiv would be a priority when the party takes control of the congressional agenda in January, when the new Congress is seated.
European officials echoed that hope on Wednesday, urging the new Congress to step up pressure on Russia to end what is now Europe's bloodiest conflict since the Second World War. Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, described the Democratic victory as very clear and said it could create a new opportunity to launch a fresh initiative to end the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.
In Moscow, the reaction was deliberately measured. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia hoped Trump would continue his peacemaking efforts regardless of the election result, a reminder that the Kremlin is watching Washington's next moves as closely as Kyiv is, and that no change in American policy is automatic.
The diplomatic calendar gives the debate a near-term test. Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff has said Washington will bring Ukrainian and Russian delegations together in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11 to discuss ending the war and the security arrangements that would follow it. Zelenskyy said he had already held detailed conversations with Witkoff and with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, ahead of that meeting.
For Ukraine, the stakes in those talks are high. Kyiv wants any settlement to be backed by credible security guarantees, not just a pause in fighting, and it has argued throughout the war that sustained Western support is what makes a negotiated outcome possible at all. A Congress more willing to fund that support would strengthen Zelenskyy's hand, but it would not by itself settle the hardest questions, including territory, security guarantees and the terms of any ceasefire.
What happens next will therefore depend on three things arriving together: whether Democratic leaders turn their campaign language on Ukraine into concrete legislation in January, whether the Abu Dhabi talks produce a workable path to negotiations, and whether European allies keep pace with their own pledges. Zelenskyy's message on Wednesday was, in effect, an early appeal on all three fronts: that a changed Congress should mean a changed level of support, and that the moment to show it is now, while diplomacy is moving again.
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