MOSCOW: Russian media, politicians and analysts said on Thursday that the elections that have put Democrats in charge of the US Congress will result in tougher American policy toward Russia.

''More likely than not ... American Democrats will see somewhat more than Mr Bush,'' wrote Natalia Gevorkyan, a columnist for the Kommersant daily. ''Russia risks being left without the trump cards it has played successfully with the Republicans. Iran, for instance, is such a trump card.''

The common view here has been that Democrats demand better Russian observance of human rights, whereas Republicans have been more prone to soft-pedalling criticism on Moscow's democratic shortcomings because of Russia's geopolitical significance.

''I don't exclude certain difficulties passing a series of documents in the Congress, in particular the convention on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation,'' the newspaper Gazeta quoted Konstantin Kosachev, head of the international relations committee of the lower house of parliament, as saying.

But veteran Russian analyst Sergei Rogov, director of the Institute of the USA and Canada, said that Russian-US relations were bad enough that the Democratic victory would not make much difference. He predicted a rocky ride in bilateral relations for the two years remaining until both US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin leave office.

''Democrats and Republicans in the United States argue over a lot of issues,'' Izvestia quoted him as saying. ''But they are united in one thing: their critical attitude toward Russia.''

Since 2001, when US President George W. Bush famously declared that he got a sense of Putin's soul during their first meeting, the relationship has stumbled badly, although the bond was strengthened after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks when Putin allowed US forces into Central Asia.—AP