President Donald Trump's administration has extended an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the Group of 20 (G20) leaders summit scheduled for December 14-15 at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the invitation on Wednesday during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, emphasizing the opportunity for Putin to engage not only with President Trump but also with other global leaders. Putin’s attendance would mark his first in-person appearance at the annual forum since 2019.
Relations between the United States and Russia have remained strained following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and the recent summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin last August did not yield significant progress toward a peace agreement. Rubio noted that a negotiated settlement is the desired path to ending the conflict, acknowledging shared goals of reducing destruction and casualties on both sides.
While Putin’s acceptance of the invitation remains uncertain, the Kremlin has previously indicated that Putin “may go to Miami, or he may not go, or another Russian representative may attend.” Since the invasion, Putin has mostly been represented at G20 meetings by senior officials such as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov or Deputy Chief of Staff Maksim Oreshkin. Putin last attended a G20 summit in person in 2019 in Osaka, Japan.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met Trump on Tuesday, expressed willingness to travel to Miami to meet Putin, stating the need for direct dialogue to reach decisions regarding the war. Meanwhile, officials from both Russia and Ukraine have reportedly expressed interest in a limited ceasefire focused on protecting energy infrastructure, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The invitation to Putin is part of a broader U.S. effort to normalize Russia’s participation in multilateral forums. Earlier this year, Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended the G20 meeting of finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, becoming the first Russian official at that level to participate since the 2022 invasion.
The decision to invite Putin has drawn mixed reactions. Some European leaders, including Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, questioned the effectiveness of engaging Putin without a genuine willingness on his part to negotiate peace. Albares asked what meaningful outcomes could arise if Putin refuses to discuss resolution of the conflict.
Within the U.S., some Republican lawmakers expressed skepticism. Senator John Cornyn of Texas described Putin as a “killer” and suggested a reset in relations was necessary before extending any significant diplomatic courtesies. Senator Todd Young of Indiana suggested that a Putin visit would only be useful if the Russian leader came prepared to announce major concessions regarding the Ukraine war; otherwise, he advocated for focusing on measures to bring Putin to the negotiating table.
Russia remains a member of the G20, an international grouping of advanced and emerging economies, despite being suspended from the Group of Seven following its 2014 annexation of Crimea. The G20 includes a mix of Western nations allied with Ukraine and countries maintaining closer relations with Moscow, such as China, India, Turkey, and South Africa.
President Trump also plans to meet with China’s leader Xi Jinping in Shenzhen, China, in mid-November during an economic summit of Asian leaders, further underscoring the administration’s pursuit of engagement with key global powers.