Russian President Vladimir Putin will be invited to the Group of 20 summit in Miami in December, according to a senior Trump administration official.
“No formal invitations have been issued at this time,” the official said on April 24. “But Russia is a G20 member and will be invited to attend ministerial meetings and the leaders’ summit.”
However, it remains unclear whether the Russian president will attend. Putin has skipped the annual gatherings since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"I don't know that he's coming. I doubt he'd come, to be honest with you," President Donald Trump told reporters on April 23.
“If he came, it would probably be very helpful,” he said. “I'm of the opinion that you talk to everybody.”
The G20 brings together the world's largest economies and comprises 19 countries, along with two regional blocs—the European Union and the African Union.
Trump earlier said some nonmember countries, including Poland, could also be invited to the Miami summit.
In September, he announced that he would host the summit at the Trump National Doral Golf Club.
“I think that everybody wants it there because it’s right next to the airport,” Trump said at the time. “It’s the best location. We will not make any money on it.”
The Leaders’ Summit will be held on Dec. 14–15.
When asked at the time whether Russia would receive an invitation, Trump said: “No, I haven’t thought of that. It’s an interesting question. I want to think about that for a little while.”
Trump has advocated for Russian participation in global summits. During his first term, he stated that Russia should be invited to the Group of 7 (G7) and disagreed with other leaders on the issue.
“When they made the G8, the G7, they threw Russia out before my time,” Trump told reporters on April 23.
Russia joined the group in 1998, forming the G-8. However, it was suspended in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea.
Trump criticized President Barack Obama and then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the decision.
“I'd go to these meetings of the G7, and about 90 percent of the meeting was talking about Russia. And I said, 'Why'd you throw them out?' You know, if they didn't throw them out, they would have been much better off. It should have been the G8,” Trump said, adding that Putin was offended by the decision.
“I venture to say you wouldn't be having these problems if you didn't throw him out.”
Since taking office, Trump has sought to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. As part of the effort, he held a high-level summit with Putin in Alaska in August last year, but the meeting ended without a breakthrough.
Putin’s visit to Alaska was his first trip to the United States since 2015. It was also the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin since the invasion of Ukraine.