Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami later this year. Rubio made the announcement after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said he would be willing to meet Putin at the G20 summit if both leaders are in attendance.
Rubio, who also serves as President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser, told reporters on Wednesday that Putin would receive an invitation to the G20 summit. “We think it’s an opportunity for (Putin) to engage not just with the (U.S.) president but with other world leaders. We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept,” Rubio told journalists. “We remain open to engaging.”
The Kremlin welcomed the invitation but has not said whether Putin will attend. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was “grateful and appreciative” for the invitation and would make a decision through diplomatic channels.
Putin is personally sanctioned by the US. However, he did make a brief visit to Alaska last year to meet with Trump. While both sides described the talks as positive, the summit did not build momentum toward ending the war in Ukraine or repairing the US-Russian relationship.
Face-to-face meetings between senior US and Russian officials have remained relatively limited since the outbreak of the Ukraine War in 2022, making Rubio and Lavrov’s meeting on Wednesday notable.
Zelensky was asked in an interview with DW about meeting with Putin during the G20 summit. “Yes, of course. We have to come. We have to meet, to speak and make decisions,” he replied. “It’s not about words. What I will tell him or what he wants to tell me, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Results matter. That’s it.”
On Tuesday, Zelensky said he would like to hold a trilateral summit with Putin and Trump. However, the Kremlin suggested the meeting would not take place unless the groundwork was agreed to beforehand.
“Generally speaking, in any other circumstances, it would be inappropriate to hold a summit meeting before the groundwork has been laid at expert level, as this would be a waste of time,” Peskov said in response to Zelensky’s proposal.
Zelensky also proposed a maritime ceasefire with Russia. “We are waiting for Russia’s response. Ukraine is ready … to ensure safe shipping and food security in the Black Sea if Russia is ready to take real steps towards de-escalation too. We have to start somewhere,” he said.
After meeting with Lavrov, Rubio said both countries have expressed interest in a limited ceasefire involving energy and grain, though he acknowledged such an agreement would not end the broader conflict.
“I think both sides have expressed an interest in some limited ceasefire that involves grain and energy [supplies],” Rubio said. “It doesn’t solve the war, but it does, I think, in some ways, potentially alleviate some of the global pressures.”
