Democrats swept Republicans from power in the House of Representatives and are on the brink of taking both chambers of the U.S. Congress under their control for the first time in 12 years.
"Democrats won votes thanks to the Republican administration's notorious failures in Iraq," Mikhail Margelov, the chairman of the Federation Council's committee for international affairs, told RIA Novosti.
He also said American media called the elections "a referendum on Iraq".
Margelov said Republicans could oppose Democrats during the elections only with "official optimism" and the sentence passed on the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was condemned Sunday to death by hanging.
But the Russian senator said that failures in Iraq were not the main reason for the Democrats' success. "First of all, American voters disagree and are dissatisfied with the domestic situation," he said.
He also said the results of the Congressional elections will not affect Russian-U.S. relations, at least before the presidential polls in 2008.
Margelov said the Bush administration, which has been "weakened by the elections," will maintain its partnership with Russia, as it is impossible to resolve global problems of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, antiterrorism and energy security without Moscow.
