Russian leader Vladimir Putin has dispatched his rumored ghost writer, former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, to head Thursday’s Istanbul talks with Kyiv initiated by none other than Putin himself on Sunday.
Medinsky is known as an ultranationalist Kremlin hawk who has amplified Russia’s imperialism claims in the past – a potential signal as to what is to come from the Russian negotiators during the talks on Thursday.
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Medinsky also headed the failed 2022 Istanbul talks with Kyiv, whose attendance on Thursday echoes Putin’s claims that the talks would be a resumption of the 2022 talks.
The Kremlin’s dispatch of four low-level officials headed by Medinsky has raised some eyebrows – but why Medinsky?
Who is Vladimir Medinsky?
Born in Ukraine’s Cherkasy region in 1970 during the Soviet era, Medinsky served as Russia’s culture minister from 2012 to 2020 and has been an aide to Putin since 2020.
Despite his birthplace, Medinsky has long associated himself with Russia and spent much of his life in Moscow.
Medinsky has long amplified Russia’s historical claims on Ukraine and rejected the latter’s sovereignty, arguing that the “Ukrainian idea” was invented by the Austrian Empire.
According to AFP, Medinsky authored the Kremlin-approved school textbooks that teach children Russia “saved peace” by annexing Crimea in 2014 and describe Ukraine as an “ultra-nationalistic state.”
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Following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he has claimed Moscow is merely “gathering Russian lands” and has called Russia “a country of heroes.”
However, independent historians, domestic and abroad, have criticized Medinsky’s work as a manipulation of facts.
A 2023 opinion piece published by the New York Times (NYT) asserts that Medinsky, alongside a team of assistants, was likely the ghost writer for Putin’s propaganda literature, considering his hawkish stance that aligns with that of Putin’s fascination with using historical narrative to justify the ongoing invasion.
Putin has long boasted about the historical ties between Ukraine and Russia, even going as far as publishing an essay on the topic titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” just months before the full-scale invasion.
Istanbul talks
Medinsky’s hardline view of Russian history is likely a key reason he was selected to lead the delegation, as Moscow positions the talks as a way to address the so-called “root causes” of the invasion – its fundamental denial of Ukraine’s right to exist as an independent state.
Medinsky also headed the 2022 Istanbul talks between Kyiv and Moscow, months after the full-scale invasion, which ultimately fell apart.
The major issues of contention at the talks, according to the Istanbul Communiqué, were Ukraine’s NATO status, Crimea, the Russian language, and the size and equipment of Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU).
Moscow has since claimed that Western pressure forced Kyiv to abandon the negotiations, alleging that Ukraine had been close to reaching a deal.
In 2024, Medinsky echoed this narrative, stating that the West urged Ukraine to walk away from talks and instead “try to defeat Russia on the battlefield.”
‘Extra chromosome’ claim
Domestically, Medinsky’s attempts to highlight Russian superiority have also caused unintended humor.
In 2012, while serving as the culture minister, Medinsky said Russia survived past traumatic events because Russians “have one extra chromosome.”
“I believe that after all the catastrophes that befell Russia in the twentieth century, starting with the First World War and ending with perestroika, the fact that Russia has survived and is developing shows that our people have one extra chromosome,” BBC Russia reported at the time, citing an interview Medinsky had given to American Russian-language newspaper “Russian Life.”
Having an extra chromosome translates to Down Syndrome – or other genetic diseases, depending on the chromosome affected.
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