51 UN countries demanded that Russia stop its aggression against Ukraine, the United States invited Putin to the G20 summit in Miami

Author, News Department

Place of work, BBC Russian Service

Published 3 minutes ago

Reading time: 5 min

At the annual session of the UN General Assembly, 51 countries demanded that Russia stop its aggression against Ukraine. The United States did not sign this statement, but invited Vladimir Putin to the December G20 summit in Miami.

“Ukraine strives for peace. We strive for peace. Russia must stop its aggression, agree to a ceasefire and constructively join negotiations to achieve [...] peace,” says a joint statement by 51 UN member states (quoted by Interfax-Ukraine).

The document also talks about Moscow's attempts to "cut off the export of Ukrainian grain" and mentions the "illegal detention, forced transfer or deportation of Ukrainian civilians, in particular children."

The US did not sign the document. At the same time, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine condemned “any attempts to expand the war” in Ukraine (Russian President Vladimir Putin denied intentions to attack European countries in terms like “bullshit”)

Shortly before the announcement of this statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in a closed format. Their conversation lasted about 50 minutes.

Following the meeting, Rubio announced that the White House had invited Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit, which will be held in December in Miami.

“To solve problems, you need to meet people with whom you have disagreements or controversial issues, which is why we invited President Putin to the G20 summit. We believe that this is an opportunity for him to communicate not only with the president (USA - BBC), but also with other world leaders,” AFP quoted Rubio as saying.

He did not specify who exactly the US Secretary of State meant by other world leaders.

Earlier in September, Vladimir Zelensky stated in an interview with the German broadcaster DW (declared a “foreign agent” in Russia) that he was ready to meet with Vladimir Putin if he came to the G20 summit.

However, the Kremlin did not confirm the Russian president’s readiness to go to the summit, and commented on Zelensky’s words in the usual manner - with an offer to come to Moscow.

What else did Lavrov and Rubio discuss?

Lavrov said after meeting with Rubio that they discussed “preparations for G20 events before the end of the year.” The minister did not mention whether the Russian president would go to the summit.

In addition, Marco Rubio, following negotiations with his Russian counterpart, stated that both Moscow and Kyiv are interested in an energy truce.

“Both sides have expressed interest in some kind of limited ceasefire that would affect both grain supplies and energy. Obviously, organizing this is quite difficult. But this is something in which both sides are interested,” said the US Secretary of State.

He noted that this, in his opinion, would not lead to an end to the war, but would help reduce tensions.

After the meeting with Rubio, speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow is ready for negotiations, but will not pause in hostilities.

“We will not pause in a special military operation during negotiations in any format,” said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Zelensky's meeting with Trump

On Tuesday, September 22, Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump. Trump had previously given a speech at a meeting of the General Assembly and reiterated that an agreement would be concluded between Russia and Ukraine “soon.”

First, the presidents made short statements to reporters.

“I hope to end this war - with the help of President Trump, of course, and that this will be as soon as possible. Even before winter, because this is very important,” Zelensky said.

“I think they both [Zelensky and Putin] want the war to end,” Trump repeated, not for the first time.

The meeting between Zelensky and Trump lasted about 40 minutes and was held in a closed format. From the Ukrainian side, it was attended by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kirill Budanov, Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Rustem Umerov and the leader of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada David Arakhamia. The United States was represented by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Mark Rubio, as well as Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US President's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The main topics of conversation, as expected, were attacks on refineries and a possible energy truce, supplies of missiles for Patriot and the prospects for a trilateral meeting with the participation of Vladimir Putin.

As Zelensky said at a press conference after the meeting with the Americans, the delegations discussed an energy truce - but the Ukrainian president did not disclose the details.

“If we don’t attack the energy sector, then all the energy sector, this is our proposal. But I don’t know Russia’s position on this matter,” he said (quoted by RBC Ukraine). Trump previously asked Zelensky to stop attacks on diesel fuel production in Russia due to rising prices.

Later, speaking before the UN General Assembly, Zelensky emphasized that Ukrainian attacks on Russian enterprises producing and transporting gasoline and diesel fuel are designed to deprive Moscow of the income that supports the war machine.

“When someone gives Russia extra money through trade, they are giving it extra time to fight. That’s why we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor, and that’s why we ourselves are burning Russian revenues,” said the Ukrainian president. “The longer Putin is able to wage war, the more evil he will leave behind in the world.”

The presidents also discussed issues of supplying missiles for Patriot systems.

“Nobody said ‘no’, but I didn’t receive a very specific answer,” Zelensky said about the results of the conversation. At the same time, according to a source from RBC-Ukraine, some progress has been made in the issue of transferring to Kyiv a license to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot.

Trump did not comment in detail on the meeting with the President of Ukraine.

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