A new round of trilateral negotiations involving Ukraine, the United States, and Russia is scheduled to take place on February 17-18 in Geneva. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the Russian delegation will again be led by Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky.
"The next round of negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement will also be held in a trilateral Russian-American-Ukrainian format on February 17-18 in Geneva," the Kremlin representative stated.
The parties previously held two meetings in Abu Dhabi: the first took place on January 23-24, and the second on February 4-5, 2026. The second round resulted in a large-scale prisoner exchange under a 157-for-157 formula. Medinsky, who led the Russian team during the 2022 negotiations, remains a key figure in diplomatic contacts between Moscow and Kyiv.
Notably, Vladimir Medinsky has Ukrainian roots—he was born in the city of Smila in the Cherkasy region—but built his entire political career in Russia. A graduate of MGIMO, he rose from founding the "Corporation Ya" advertising agency in the 1990s to serving as Russia's Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2020. Since January 2020, he has served as a presidential aide and is considered one of the primary ideologues of Russia's current political course.
In addition to his official duties, Medinsky is a prolific publicist. He authored the "Myths about Russia" book series, which promotes ideas of the country's historical exceptionalism. In 2023, he co-authored new history textbooks for 11th-grade students, which completely revised sections covering the period from the 1970s to the present, including a detailed justification for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Medinsky's role as a negotiator is frequently criticized due to his heavy ideological leanings. In 2022, he headed the Russian delegation during talks in Belarus and Istanbul. He recently claimed that the peace treaty terms offered at that time were "significantly milder" than Russia's current demands. Beyond politics, Medinsky heads the Russian Military Historical Society and was recently elected chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia.