Erdoğan considers it premature to judge the consequences of the congressional election, Seoul wants to settle trade issues independently of Congress, Moscow sends an envoy to Washington

Further governments commented on the congressional election on Thursday morning or continued their contacts with Washington. The basis is projections according to which the Democrats win the Senate and the House of Representatives. There is no official final result yet.

Turkey: too early for a verdict. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was asked on his return flight from South Korea whether the election result will change relations with Turkey and US policy in the Middle East. According to the portal Sondakika (5 November, 10:08 CET), he said: “Şimdiden köşeli cümleler kurmak herhalde biraz erken olacaktır.” (Making clear-cut statements already now would probably be somewhat premature.) He hoped for positive consequences for the region and for world politics, he said. Relations between the two NATO allies rest on a solid foundation. Turkey will continue its close dialogue with the US administration and Congress. The İstanbul Ticaret Gazetesi (10:15 CET) reports the same.

South Korea: economic issues independent of Congress. Park Du-soon, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said at the regular press conference, according to the agency Aju News (09:04 CET), that Seoul wants to settle important economic and trade issues with the US smoothly, “미 의회 구성과 무관하게” (regardless of the composition of the US Congress). The alliance is to be expanded into a comprehensive strategic alliance in close coordination with the administration and Congress. The government wants to safeguard investments by Korean companies in the US in talks with the federal government, Congress and the states. The presidential office had already stated earlier that the election result does not affect the alliance.

Russia: first visit after the election. Kirill Dmitriev, special envoy of President Vladimir Putin, is taking part on Thursday in an event hosted by First Lady Melania Trump at the White House and meeting administration officials, according to the agency Reuters, published at Yahoo News (10:15 CET). Reuters cites two people familiar with his plans. According to Reuters, it would be the first in-person contact between representatives of Russia and the US since the election. The topics are said to be humanitarian issues such as the release of prisoners and the return of Ukrainian children to their families, as well as the economy. The report contains no statement on this from Dmitriev or the Kremlin. The Kremlin had said on Wednesday that it hopes Trump will continue his mediation.

These are the views of the respective government representatives. Earlier reactions are under Reports, what the new Congress can do from January is in the timeline.