In Ukraine, the Democratic surge in the US midterms has mixed guarded optimism with dark humour about what comes next for a war drifting toward its fifth year.

Many officials and analysts think a Congress less aligned with Donald Trump could stiffen American support and change the leverage in any peace track with Moscow. Others warn that foreign policy still sits heavily with the White House, so battlefield aid and diplomacy may shift only slowly.

Kyiv has spent months reading every signal from Washington on weapons, sanctions and talks involving Kremlin envoys. A weaker Republican hand on Capitol Hill is seen as room to argue for sustained pressure on Russia rather than a rapid deal that freezes lines on Moscow's terms.

Nothing about the vote ends the fighting. Russian strikes continue and Ukrainian forces still need munitions, air defence and money. But for a public exhausted by attrition, the midterm map is being read as a possible brake on any rush to settle on unfavourable ground.