What Russia gains and loses as Americans vote to elect their new president

In addition to promises regarding domestic policy, the candidates in the current US presidential elections have released indicative statements about their attitude to major international conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spoken about Russia as well to outline how they would build future relations with Moscow.

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Московский_Кремль,_вид_с_Дома_на_набережной.jpg by Semyon Borisov

Trump has repeatedly stated that he will quickly end the conflict in Ukraine should he return to the Oval Office.

"I will literally call two people the same night that I am announced as the winner: Putin and Zelensky. <…> We will make a deal within 24 hours," Trump said.

Donald Trump has not elaborated on how he could end the conflict in Ukraine, It is believed, however, that his plan involves the creation of a demilitarized zone along the current demarcation line between Russia and Ukraine. A guarantee of Kyiv's neutral status is also believed to be part of Trump's peace plan, vice presidential candidate James David Vance said.

The Financial Times, citing unnamed Trump advisers, wrote that the plan was a revision of the Minsk agreements. Importantly, the plan will include mechanisms for enforcement and punishment for their failure. It is assumed that "European troops" will monitor the implementation of the agreements.

Zelensky said that he did not believe in Trump's ability to end the conflict. Ukraine does not agree to accept Trump's idea to cede territories to Russia, Zelensky said.

The Kremlin also noted that "nothing can be done within 24 hours", unless the newly elected president could say during the inauguration ceremony that the United States was shutting down its military aid to Ukraine and calling on the parties to negotiate.

"By the morning, something will then change in someone's brain, especially in Kyiv," Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Kamala Harris, in turn, emphasized that the United States would continue supporting Ukraine, including militarily. She also said that she was not ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin to discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine. According to her, Ukraine should have a say in its future.

Trump has repeatedly spoken of good relations with Putin during his time as US President, calling him a "world-class chess player."

Harris's statements were less positive. She called Putin a "killer dictator." The Russian Embassy in the US said that the use of "boorish language" indicates "the impotence of the ruling circles in Washington."

The Russian authorities believe that the US uses the Russian topic as an "instrument of domestic political struggle."

"President Putin said that perhaps a situation would arise some day in which the Americans would no longer have such a need to use our country as an instrument of political struggle and sacrifice our bilateral relations for [its] interests," Peskov noted.

The Russian authorities have also repeatedly stated that the United States was involved in the conflict in Ukraine.

"All that is needed is a corresponding order from Washington to the Kyiv regime — and all this can be finished, but not in a day or two, of course. But the key to the Kyiv regime is largely in Washington's hands," Peskov said adding that Joe Biden was unwilling to use that key.

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The 2024 United States elections are currently being held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. During this presidential election year, the president and vice president will be elected. The following presidential election will be the 2028 presidential election. In addition, all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested to determine the membership of the 119th United States Congress. Thirteen state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested.