US invites Putin to G20 summit at Trump's Miami golf club
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to the December G20 summit in Miami, held at a Trump golf club — the first major international summit at which Putin would appear since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The invitation
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, at a press conference on the sidelines of a UN conference in New York, that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to the G20 summit scheduled for December 14–15, 2026, in Miami, to be held at the Trump National Doral golf club. "We've invited President Putin to the G20. We hope that's an invitation he'll accept," Rubio said following a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Should Putin attend, it would mark the first major international summit with him present since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and would represent a significant reversal of the Trump administration's stance on Russia's international isolation. Putin last attended a G20 summit in person in 2019, joining one session virtually in 2023.
Context and reactions
Rubio said Trump was willing to meet with "virtually anyone," arguing that solving problems requires engaging with people you disagree with. According to Meduza, Rubio also said a possible energy-sector ceasefire "doesn't solve the war" but could ease some of the global pressure on energy prices.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said this month he would be ready to travel to the summit and meet Putin if he attended. Addressing the UN, Zelenskyy urged world leaders to keep restricting Russia's revenues and warned the war could spread beyond Ukraine if Putin isn't stopped.
Situation in Ukraine
Despite ceasefire efforts, Russia has continued heavy drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities. As reported by The Guardian, Kyiv has faced particularly intense attacks from jet-powered Shahed drones over the past two days, occurring both day and night. On Wednesday, explosions and smoke filled the city center, hitting a petrol station, warehouses and a business centre; according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, one person was killed and eight injured. Over the weekend, Ukraine carried out its largest strike yet on a Russian oil refinery near Moscow.
The US Congress recently passed a sweeping sanctions bill against Russia, giving Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on major buyers of Russian energy, including China and India. The House Foreign Affairs Committee criticized the invitation, saying it shows the administration has no intention of isolating Russia.
