Invitation from the USA to Putin for the G20 Summit in Miami

The USA invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 meeting planned to be held in Miami in December. If Putin accepts the invitation, this will be the first major summit Russia will attend since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Putin was invited to the summit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a press conference held on the margins of the United Nations meetings in New York.

After his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Rubio said, "We invited President Putin to the G20. We think this is an opportunity for him to meet not only with Trump but also with other world leaders. We hope he accepts this invitation."

The Kremlin has not yet made a public statement regarding the invitation.

Russia remains a member of the G20, but Putin has not attended the organization's summits since 2019. The Russian leader attended a session of the summit in 2023 online. The summit in December is planned to be held at Trump National Doral golf club.

Rubio justified the invitation by saying Trump was ready to meet with "almost anyone" and that "to solve problems, you need to meet with people you have disagreements with." Rubio stated that Trump is open to one-on-one meetings with Putin on other platforms if "there is a purpose behind the meeting."

G20 is a platform formed by the world's largest economies. The European Union, China, India, the USA, the UK and other important countries are among the members of the G20.

European officials reacted to the invitation of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to the meeting of the group's senior economic officials in August and refused to pose for a "family photo" with Siluanov at the summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement earlier this month that he was ready to attend the summit and meet with the Russian leader if Putin also attends.

Zelenskiy said, "We must go. We must meet, talk and make decisions. It's not about the words. It doesn't matter what I will say to him or what he wants to say to me. It doesn't matter at all. What matters is the results. That's all."

Zelenskiy addressed the United Nations on Wednesday, calling on world leaders to continue reducing Russia's revenues and disrupting its war effort.

"Ukrainians understand that this winter can be very difficult for us. In return, we will have no choice but to make things difficult for Russia," Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy also warned that the war could spread beyond Ukraine's borders if Putin is not stopped.