Putin invited to G20 summit in Miami, US says
US officials say Moscow has been invited to the December 2026 G20 meeting in Miami and hope Putin will meet other world leaders.
The United States has formally invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 leaders' summit that will be held in Miami in December 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on September 24, 2026. Washington said it expects Putin to accept the invitation and sees the meeting as a chance for wide-ranging talks.
Invitation announced on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
Rubio told reporters in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly debate, that the United States hopes Putin will attend the Miami summit. He added that the presence of the Russian president would provide an opportunity to meet not only with US President Donald Trump but also with other heads of state and government.
Russia remains an official member of the Group of Twenty, which comprises 19 countries plus the European Union and the African Union. Putin last attended a G20 summit in 2019, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
President Trump has previously expressed hope that Putin would come to Miami. In April he said it "would probably be quite useful," while also expressing doubt about whether the trip would actually happen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in mid-September that he is prepared to attend the G20 summit and to speak with Putin if he receives an invitation. "We must come. We must meet, talk and make decisions," Zelensky said in an interview.
Russia's war with Ukraine has strained relations between Moscow and Western-oriented members of the G20, and Moscow has in recent years invested more political energy in BRICS, a grouping that includes countries such as Brazil, India, China and South Africa. In August, ahead of the G20 summit, the US state of North Carolina hosted a meeting of G20 finance ministers that was attended by Russia's finance minister, Anton Siluanov.
Putin last met President Trump bilaterally in August of last year in the United States, and the two leaders have spoken several times by phone in the context of the war in Ukraine. The United States positions itself as a potential intermediary in the conflict, but significant progress toward a ceasefire or settlement has not been achieved.
Photo: press material from the event
