'Ukraine isn't worth the risk': Who the US sent to talk with Medinsky

Today in Istanbul, a meeting took place between representatives of Russia and the United States. The talks were held ahead of a planned round of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

The US was represented at the meeting with the Russian delegation — led by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to the Russian President — by Michael Anton, Director of Policy Planning at the US Department of State.

According to the publication, Michael Anton is not a career diplomat or a traditional politician, but rather an unconventional political insider.

He is a California native of Lebanese descent who served in the administration of former President George W. Bush and during the first administration of US President Donald Trump. In 2025, he was appointed to his current position.

Anton has also worked in the media and financial sectors, and taught a course on Niccolò Machiavelli, the Renaissance-era political philosopher — which led Vanity Fair magazine to dub him "Machiavelli in the White House."

Anton's views

Anton is considered one of the intellectual ideologues of "Trumpism" and is known for his far-right views. As the publication notes, he has criticized the American elite for:

• promoting "32 genders,"
• "kowtowing to Iran,"
• the "endless importation of people from the Third World,"
• supporting the Black Lives Matter movement,
• and fighting against Islamophobia.

He has also accused the Democrats of planning to carry out a "color revolution" in the United States funded by George Soros — though he has provided no evidence to support these claims.

Anton's foreign policy views, the publication points out, are also typical of Trump's circle.

Among other things, he has argued that, from the perspective of American interests, Ukraine is not worth the risk of a nuclear confrontation with Russia.

Anton is also known as a dandy — he wrote over 40,000 comments on a forum dedicated to men's style and published, under a pseudonym, a guide to men's suits written in the style of Machiavellian treatises.

Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul

Today delegations from Ukraine and Russia held negotiations in Istanbul. This marked the first direct contact between the two countries in the past 3,5 years.

Following the meeting, Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that the two sides had agreed on a prisoner exchange in a 1,000-for-1,000 format.

During the negotiations, the possibility of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin was also raised.

Further details about the talks can be found in the RBC-Ukraine article.