Trump invites Putin to Miami G20: Why that matters

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that Washington has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to December’s G20 meeting in Miami amid efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Following a meeting with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Rubio said the US remained open to speaking with Moscow about Ukraine.

“We’ve just invited President Putin to the G20. We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president but with other world leaders. We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept,” Rubio said.

Trump and Putin last met, face to face, in Anchorage, Alaska, in August 2025, but failed to reach any agreement over Ukraine. Putin has not visited the contiguous United States since he invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The G20, or Group of 20, is a forum bringing together the world’s major and emerging economies. A summit is held annually – this year in Miami, Florida, in the US.

While many G20 countries, such as Germany, France, and the UK, are allied with Ukraine, others have closer ties with Russia – including China and India.

If he accepts the invitation, it would be Putin’s first in-person attendance at a G20 summit since 2019.

In 2021, the Russian leader attended the G20 summit virtually and spoke by video feed, but in 2023, when the summit was held in India, Putin sent Lavrov in his place.