The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has confirmed that Washington has extended an invite to Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 Summit scheduled to take place in Florida in December.
Speaking after his meeting with Russian veteran foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “solving problems requires talks with countries where there are disagreements”.
President Putin did not attend the G20 Summit in South Africa at the tail-end of 2025. The Russian leader could also not attend the BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg in August 2023 due to threats of arrest over the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Unlike SA, the US is not a signatory to the Rome Statute. The US does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC and has previously sanctioned several court officials deemed anti-US interests. At the UN General Assembly this week, US President Donald Trump used the podium to call for the outright disbandment of the ICC and resignation of all staff.
The significance of the White House’s invitation to President Putin cannot be overstated. President Trump has made it his key mission to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine during his 2nd term in the Oval Office.
If President Putin accepts the invitation to attend G20 Summit, chances are that the two leaders of nuclear powers would hold another face-to-face round of talks on Ukraine and several other geopolitical topics, including Iran, Palestine and the Middle East, among others.
The Kremlin has acknowledged receipt of the US invite, and said it was under consideration. Moscow also said Russia has all the intention to continue participating in the work of the G20 and its events as effectively as possible.
Additionally, Moscow said in a statement that it remains open to a peaceful settlement in Ukraine and supports a lasting peace agreement “rather than a temporary ceasefire”.
