Kremlin calls results of New York mayoral election 'internal affair' of US

MOSCOW

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday described the victory of US President Donald Trump's opponent, Zohran Mamdani, in the New York mayoral election as a America's "internal affair."

Asked at a press briefing in Moscow if the election result could cause internal US divisions that hinder Washington's aid in the Ukrainian settlement, Peskov said the New York mayoral race and the war in Ukraine are not linked.

"We don't think that these things are interconnected in any way. This is the internal affair of the United States of America," he stressed.

Mamdani, 34, became New York City's first Muslim mayor in Tuesday elections, defeating independent Andrew Cuomo.

Peskov said the Kremlin sees significant interest from Western journalists in President Vladimir Putin's proposal to visit Ukrainian areas where Kyiv's forces are trapped in "cauldrons."

"There is a lot of interest, and we know that a large number of Western journalists would like to go there. I am not aware of any Ukrainian journalists who would declare their desire to go," he said.

Peskov asserted that Kyiv is trying to hide the plight of its troops by obstructing the initiative.

The offer was made on Oct. 29, when Putin said the Defense Ministry was ready to grant foreign media access to encircled areas so journalists could "see with their own eyes what was happening there." The following day, the ministry announced it was prepared to pause combat for five to six hours to create safe corridors.

However, on Oct. 31, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhyi called on both foreign and Ukrainian journalists to reject a Russian initiative that would allow them to visit the conflict areas around the cities of Pokrovsk, Dymytrov, and Kupiansk via Russian-controlled territory.

Shifting to other matters, Peskov said the development of Russia's newest weapons system should become a reliable shield against "hotheads" who are potentially ready for "rash actions."

He added that Moscow lacks clarity on what types of weapons Washington plans to test in its own nuclear tests.