US invites Putin to G20 summit in Miami, Rubio says

The United States has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit in Miami on Dec. 14-15, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sept. 23.

Rubio confirmed the invitation after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“We invited President Putin to the G20. It is an opportunity for him to engage not only with President Donald Trump, but also with other world leaders,” Rubio said, according to Sky News.

“We hope it's an invitation he'll accept,” he added. “We hope that there's a purpose behind the meeting. That would be good.”

It remains unclear whether Putin will attend. His last in-person appearance at a G20 summit was in Japan in 2019.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sept. 21 that he was prepared to attend the Miami summit and meet Putin there if the Russian leader also participated.

Zelenskyy said the substance of such a meeting would matter more than what either leader said publicly.

“What will matter is only the result. That’s all,” he said.

Bloomberg previously reported, citing people close to the Kremlin, that Putin was expected to skip the Miami summit and instead attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in China.

Following his meeting with Lavrov, Rubio also said the United States remained concerned that Russia’s war against Ukraine could “metastasize and spread into other places,” including through hybrid or sabotage attacks or through a misunderstanding.