The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it saw no prospects for an improvement in relations between Russia and the U.S. following the outcome of the midterm elections.

In the elections, the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives.

The House victory would give the Democrats the opportunity to possibly block some of President Donald Trump’s agenda and open his administration to intense scrutiny.

Congressional sources also said that the Democrats would try to harden U.S. policy toward Moscow.

Trump’s fellow Republicans, however, expanded their majority in the U.S. Senate in the Tuesday vote.

“We can say with a large amount of confidence that of course no bright prospects for normalising Russian-American relations can be seen on the horizon,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

Peskov said it was up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump to continue dialogue.

The two leaders will meet briefly in Paris next week, Peskov said on Tuesday, and could have a longer meeting at the summit of the Group of 20 nations in Argentina at the end of the month. (Reuters/NAN)