U.S. Extends Invitation to Russian President Putin for Miami G20 Summit
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington has invited President Vladimir Putin to attend the December G20 meeting in Miami, framing the invitation as a chance for diplomatic engagement amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that President Vladimir Putin has been invited to the Group of 20 summit scheduled for December in Miami, Florida. Rubio said the invitation offers Putin an opportunity to meet the U.S. president and other world leaders and expressed hope that Moscow will accept.
“We’ve just invited President Putin to the G20. We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president but with other world leaders. We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept,” Rubio said.
The invitation follows a recent meeting between Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the United Nations General Assembly. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said no decision had yet been made about Putin’s attendance and that Russia would review the offer.
If accepted, it would be Putin’s first in-person appearance at a G20 summit since 2019; he participated virtually in 2021 and sent Lavrov in 2023. The G20 brings together major economies, including the United States, Russia, China, India and the European Union, many of which have taken opposing positions on the Ukraine war.
Relations between Washington and Moscow remain strained. The Trump administration recently enacted a sanctions law targeting Russian energy buyers and officials, while President Trump has called for an “energy truce” between Ukraine and Russia. Analysts noted that the invitation could be a diplomatic overture but also raised concerns that it might legitimize a leader accused of war crimes.
European officials responded critically. EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said the move risked normalising a war-starting leader, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned it could be perceived by Moscow as encouragement for continued aggression.
The United States is not a party to the International Criminal Court treaty, so a potential ICC arrest warrant for Putin would not be enforceable domestically. The Trump administration is also reportedly preparing sanctions against the ICC, which it has labeled “out of control.”