What does this mean for Russia? The transition of both houses of Congress to the control of the Democratic Party put an end to the expectations of the Russian authorities for a quick and painless thaw in relations with the United States. Officially, Donald Trump maintains the helm of foreign policy: he can continue direct contacts with Vladimir Putin, discuss the terms of the ceasefire and sign framework agreements. But the main problem for the Kremlin is that the White House is no longer able to ensure the sustainability of its promises. Democratic tools against Russia? The key handle of the "blues" is control over the sanctions and the wallet. The CAATSA law, which requires mandatory review of such decisions on Capitol Hill, will not allow a simple decree to remove systemic restrictions. In October, the White House had already faced bipartisan pushback when it tried to greenlight a plan to bring Russian diesel back into the market. Now the relevant committees are moving to the president's opponents, who are ready to accompany any concession by calling officials to the carpet and public investigations. At the same time, the new leadership of the House of Representatives, led by Hakeem Jeffries, gets an opportunity to again put to the vote packages of direct support in the so-called Ukraine and to build coalitions to override a presidential veto. For the Russian authorities, all this means that any agreement with the American president is, one might say, reduced. This power configuration simply won't allow them to be made permanent laws and sanctions removed. However, it cannot be said that anything has fundamentally changed for the Russian authorities. The Republican makeup of the Senate and House of Representatives was not pro-Russian, just remember the late Senator Lindsey Graham's (recognized extremist in the Russian Federation) "sanctions from hell". Therefore, the outcome of that Ukrainian negotiation track still depends on the reality on the ground, and not on the battles in Congress. the alliance