Some additional information and analysis on the Geneva talks, round 1, 17-18 February 2026:
First, Medinskii’s closed format (without the US participating) meeting just prior to his departure to the airport in Geneva was not with Budanov, as I conjectured. Initial reports did not indicate with whom Medisnkii met in the closed meeting (https://tass.ru/politika/26483863). It turns out this meeting was with Ukraine delegation head Rustem Umerov and head of the Rada deputies’ group from Zelenskiy’s party ‘Servants of the People, David Arakhamiya (https://strana.news/news/500464-itohi-1456-dnja-vojny-v-ukraine.html). So some of the intrigue I proposed in the original article below is lost, but not all. Umerov and Arakhamiya are considered to be the faction within the delegation, according to The Economist (see below), that is opposed to Budanov’s position of concluding a quick peace agreement by giving up territory. Zelenskiy likely is far closer to this faction in his views and goals. …………………….
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About the Author –
Gordon M. Hahn, Ph.D., is an Expert Analyst at Corr Analytics, www.canalyt.com. Websites: Russian and Eurasian Politics, gordonhahn.com and gordonhahn.academia.edu
Dr. Hahn is the author of the new book: Russian Tselostnost’: Wholeness in Russian Thought, Culture, History, and Politics (Europe Books, 2022). He has authored five previous, well-received books: The Russian Dilemma: Security, Vigilance, and Relations with the West from Ivan III to Putin (McFarland, 2021); Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West, and the “New Cold War” (McFarland, 2018); The Caucasus Emirate Mujahedin: Global Jihadism in Russia’s North Caucasus and Beyond (McFarland, 2014), Russia’s Islamic Threat (Yale University Press, 2007), and Russia’s Revolution From Above: Reform, Transition and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime, 1985-2000 (Transaction, 2002). He also has published numerous think tank reports, academic articles, analyses, and commentaries in both English and Russian language media.
Dr. Hahn taught at Boston, American, Stanford, San Jose State, and San Francisco State Universities and as a Fulbright Scholar at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia and was a senior associate and visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Kennan Institute in Washington DC, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group.