Who is Vladimir Medinsky whom Putin sends to Istanbul? He has recorded one failure, controversial character

The meeting, the first of its kind after several years of direct confrontation, is expected to be one of the key moments in the attempt at a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Vladimir Medinsky, born in 1970 in the city of Smela (the then Ukrainian SSR), graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), and spent part of his studies as an intern at the USSR Embassy in Washington. He entered Russian politics in the early 2000s as a member of the State Duma, and later, from 2012 to 2020, served as Minister of Culture.

He is known for the promotion of conservative and national values, as well as for advocating for a stronger Russian identity in cultural policy.

Since 2020, he has been serving as presidential assistant.

EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

He negotiated with Ukraine three years ago

Medinsky, who will lead the Russian delegation at the peace talks with Ukraine in Istanbul, is not a newcomer when it comes to diplomatic missions within the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In 2022, this close associate of President Vladimir Putin was the head of the Russian delegation in the first attempts to stop the war through dialogue.

The first negotiations were held at the end of February and during March 2022, just a few days after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Medinsky led the Russian side in several rounds of talks, which were first held in Belarus, and then in Istanbul, where on March 29 the first signs of a possible rapprochement of positions were reached.

Ukraine then offered to accept military neutrality and not seek NATO membership, provided it received international security guarantees. Russia, on the other hand, demanded recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and sovereignty over parts of Donetsk and Luhansk controlled by pro-Russian forces. Although Medinsky stated that "Ukraine has shown its willingness to fulfill key Russian demands", no concrete agreement was reached.

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Allegations of plagiarism in Ph.D

In 2017, an independent commission of Russian scientists gathered around the "Dissernet" project accused Medinsky of plagiarizing parts of his doctoral dissertation in history, as well as using non-academic sources, and that his dissertation did not meet scientific standards.

The academic council of the Ural Federal University then recommended that he be stripped of his title, but the Russian Ministry of Education refused to implement it, with political protection from the Kremlin.

Let us recall that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his willingness to meet with Putin in Turkey, but emphasized that he will participate in the negotiations only if Putin appears in person.

Meanwhile, the United States announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellogg will be present at the negotiations.

President Donald Trump stated that he is considering the possibility of attending, but he will still have to miss the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations due to his "busy schedule".

The talks in Istanbul represent potentially the first direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky since December 2019.