WITH A WIRY frame, wispy grey hair and rimless spectacles, Vladimir Medinsky cuts an unassuming figure. Yet he is leading Russia’s delegation at so-far fruitless peace talks with Ukraine, the third round of which took place in Istanbul on July 23rd. Mr Medinsky has served as an aide to Vladimir Putin since 2020. Now he is acting as a mouthpiece for Russia’s president: his job at the negotiating table is less about ending the fighting than pursuing his boss’s war aims. More than three years into the conflict, and despite a million Russian casualties, those still amount to making Ukraine a country under Russia’s thumb.