What happened
The Democrats have won the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the US midterm elections. The election results could force President Donald Trump to shift his policy in support of Ukraine, according to US expert Jan Hallenberg at Utrikespolitiska institutet. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has expressed cautious hope that Congress can now push for strengthened military and economic support. At the same time, Zelenskyj has held long talks with American mediators, while Donald Trump has received a Russian envoy at the White House. International negotiations on Ukraine's security and reconstruction are also ongoing in Brussels with representatives from, among others, the EU and Nato.
Our analysis
Reporting on the war in Ukraine is constantly stuck in the corridors of the great powers. When American election results are analyzed, the people behind the numbers are forgotten. For hundreds of thousands of Swedish-Ukrainians and Ukrainian refugees, it is not about political games in Washington, but about life, death, and an uncertain existence.
Swedish and European leaders have grown comfortable placing the responsibility on the US. But making the survival of Ukrainians dependent on which party holds the majority across the Atlantic is a political failure. According to SCB, immigration decreased to around 19,500 people in 2025, of which approximately 6,700 were people born in Ukraine, while around 4,200 Ukrainian citizens are estimated to be registered in Sweden during 2026. They are now building their lives here as new Swedes while the war rages on.
Sweden and Europe must stop waiting for Congress in Washington to act. It is here in Europe that security must be guaranteed. New Swedes from Ukraine should not have to live with their future on hold because those in power hesitate.
Explained
Midterm elections is the term used for the elections in the US held in the middle of a president's four-year term. Members of both chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, are elected there.