Russia’s negotiating group at the talks with the US and Ukraine, held in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11, included five members of the main delegation and six experts. The composition of the delegation and each participant’s role were never officially announced — on the eve of the talks, state and pro-Kremlin media outlets, citing sources, published a list of Russia’s representatives. Several members of the delegation, including its head, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, had already taken part in previous rounds of talks. Four of Russia’s representatives went to discuss the terms of a peace settlement for the first time. Here’s who represented Russia at the talks and what they’re known for.

Core members of the Russian delegation

Vladimir Medinsky

head of the delegation, presidential aide, and head of the Russian Military Historical Society for the past 13 years

Medinsky is a graduate of MGIMO, a former lawmaker in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament (2003–2011), and a former culture minister (2012–2020). As head of the Culture Ministry, he became known for aggressively protecting Russian cinema, a scandal over his dissertation, and crude remarks. His reputation as an amateur historian and propagandist later did not stop him from rewriting Russian textbooks, including history textbooks. Medinsky has led the group of Russian negotiators since 2022. His role in the talks has been linked to the fact that Russia had not changed its conditions for ending the war in recent years. Back in Istanbul, Moscow demanded Kyiv’s effective capitulation: radically reducing its armed forces, abandoning its bid to join NATO, and giving up attempts to retake Crimea by force.

Mikhail Galuzin

deputy foreign minister

He has taken part in the talks since 2025. Galuzin has worked at the Foreign Ministry since 1983, holding posts both at its central office and abroad. He has worked extensively in Asian countries, including Japan, where he addressed the question of peace treaty negotiations. A dispute over the Kuril Islands has kept Moscow and Tokyo from signing a peace treaty formally ending World War II. The talks stopped after Japan imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Galuzin now oversees relations with CIS countries.

Sergei Ryabkov

deputy foreign minister

This is his first time taking part in the talks. At the Foreign Ministry, Ryabkov oversees relations with the U.S., Canada, Latin America, BRICS, and arms control. Notably, it was Ryabkov who, on the eve of the full-scale war, explained Moscow’s demands regarding the future architecture of European security and took part in talks with the U.S. on security guarantees. Agentstvo, an independent Russian investigative outlet, suggests that Ryabkov’s inclusion in the current delegation is further evidence that Russia wanted to discuss the future of the entire European security system at the talks in Abu Dhabi.

Alexey Komkov

head of the FSB’s operational information and international relations department

He is taking part in the talks for the first time. Until 2016, he headed the FSB’s department for the protection of the constitutional order and the fight against terrorism, which is responsible for prosecuting dissidents. He then spent three years heading the agency’s internal security department. In 2019, he was appointed deputy head of the military counterintelligence department, and in 2024 Komkov became head of the FSB’s operational information and international relations department.

Igor Kostyukov

head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces

He is under U.S. sanctions over the interference of hackers from Russian military intelligence (the GRU) in the 2016 U.S. election, as well as under European Union sanctions for the poisoning of the Skripals in 2018. Kostyukov appeared among Russia’s negotiators in 2025. At the time, journalist Andrei Soldatov, who specializes in Russian security services, noted that this was likely a sign that Vladimir Putin wants to involve security service representatives in international negotiations more frequently. The security services’ own leadership, aware of how important the talks are to Putin, has in turn sought to “wedge its way into the lineup,” including through discussions of prisoner exchanges (considered the prerogative of intelligence agencies), to boost its standing in the eyes of the head of state.

Experts

Dmitry Minaev

first deputy head of the service, head of the FSB’s Counterintelligence Operations Department (DKRO)

He is taking part in the talks for the first time. DKRO officers have been linked to sabotage operations in Ukraine. According to media reports, Minaev and his department are behind a failed assassination attempt on Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff and member of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks, Kyrylo Budanov (it is not known when the attempt took place). DKRO is also considered to be involved in the detention in Russia of U.S. citizens later accused of espionage, and in building up the so-called exchange fund. Among those detained was The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who was eventually released as part of a prisoner exchange. He has said that Minaev was one of the people who escorted prisoners whom Russia handed over to Western countries. According to reports from Ukrainian media, Minaev’s family and relatives lived in Ukraine until 2017, and he himself was born there.

Yuri Zhigarlovsky

deputy head of the General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate

He previously took part in the trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. held in Abu Dhabi in January 2026. Zhigarlovsky serves in the directorate responsible for developing defense plans, preparing proposals on military development, and overseeing international military cooperation. Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, who was killed in an assassination attempt in the Moscow region in April, also served in the same directorate. Zhigarlovsky unveiled a memorial plaque for his colleague.

Alexander Zorin

first deputy head of the General Staff’s information directorate

A career military man from a military family, a general in the GRU, and an experienced negotiator. During Russia’s military operation in Syria from 2015 to 2017, he negotiated ceasefires, the surrender of various sites, the opening of humanitarian corridors, and similar arrangements with different armed groups. In 2018, for example, he received the title of Hero of Russia for negotiations with Syrian militants in Duma that, according to Zorin himself, made it possible to avoid civilian casualties. As a result, the militants were allowed to leave the city. In 2022, in Mariupol, Zorin negotiated with Ukrainians in talks that ended with the surrender of Azovstal.

Elena Podobreevskaya

deputy head of the Presidential Directorate for State Policy in the Humanitarian Sphere

The directorate Podobreevskaya represents appeared in the Kremlin only two years ago, in 2024. The body monitors how state policy is implemented, including efforts to preserve and strengthen “the spiritual and moral foundations of Russian society” and “traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,” in cultural institutions, educational and research organizations, and civil society institutions. Podobreevskaya herself comes from Russia’s Foreign Ministry, sits on the board of trustees of its college, and previously headed Medinsky’s staff.

Alexey Polishchuk

director of the Second CIS Department at Russia’s Foreign Ministry

He has taken part in the talks since 2025. He has been in the diplomatic service since 1989. At the Foreign Ministry, he oversees relations with Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. A month before the new round of talks in Abu Dhabi, Polishchuk gave an interview to the Russian news agency Interfax about the tasks facing Russian diplomacy “regarding the SVO.” Speaking about the possibility of reaching peace through negotiations, he said Ukrainian and European diplomats “don’t know how to talk” and “only issue ultimatums” to Russia in an effort to secure a “temporary respite” rather than a lasting peace.

Oleg Postnikov

director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control at Russia’s Foreign Ministry

He is taking part in the talks for the first time. Postnikov has worked at the Foreign Ministry since 1996, holding various positions within its central office. He recently spoke about why Russia opposes banning the use of artificial intelligence in the military sphere. According to him, countries that lack expertise in the field favor a ban, while Western countries, eager to cement their lead, favor the responsible use of military AI. Speaking on Moscow’s behalf, he also demanded that “issues related to military-biological activity” by the U.S. in Ukraine be resolved — in other words, that the very biolabs that Russia’s Defense Ministry regularly talks about be shut down (you can read our breakdown of these claims here). Postnikov’s participation in the talks has been linked to the possibility that the topic of nonproliferation and arms control may also have been discussed at the talks in Abu Dhabi.