Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to accept the invitation by U.S. President Donald Trump to attend the G20 conference in Miami, according to a Kremlin-controlled newspaper, which said that such a trip would be "unnecessary and even harmful." The Kremlin has welcomed the U.S. government's invitation to Putin to attend the summit in Florida starting December 14 but said that a decision had not yet been made over whether he would go. Some world leaders have criticized the invitation as normalizing Russian aggression nearly five years into Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Among Russian media outlets digesting the invitation was the mass circulation newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, which suggested that such a trip was not in Moscow's best interests, given the state of the war that has no sign of ending. "Ahead Russia has not peace, but war," it said, adding that the surge in diplomatic activity between the U.S. and Russia over ending the war was just "white noise." Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin and the White House for comment. Moskovsky Komsomolets, which has a daily circulation of around 1 million, is controlled by the Kremlin but does not necessarily represent its thinking.
It said that instead of preparations for a winter meeting between Putin and Trump, "the real political agenda is preparing for an even tougher and bloodier phase of the Ukrainian conflict." The Kremlin must wait to see if the offer stands and whether Trump's power is reduced after November's midterm elections, according to the op-ed by Mikhail Rostovsky. But any trip to such a prominent world event by Putin should have a purpose and if there were no settlement in the war with Ukraine, that a visit to Miami becomes "from the point of view of the Kremlin's interests, completely unnecessary and even harmful." This is because other G20 leaders in Europe and Canada will use Putin's attendance "to ostracize" Russia, and it would offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is likely to attend, the chance of "putting on a show dubbed 'the Ukrainian David meets the Russian Goliath.'" "Why Putin needs such a show is completely incomprehensible," the op-ed added. A trip to Miami would be Putin's first inside the contiguous United States, although he met Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, in August 2025, when there was no breakthrough on the war.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly that Putin's presence at the G20 would be "an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president, but with other world leaders.” Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, welcomed the "kind invitation" but said Thursday that no decision had been made. However, the offer has been criticized. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday that inviting Putin to the G20 in Miami might encourage Moscow to continue its actions toward Ukraine.
Putin last attended the forum in 2019. Despite no deal, Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have engaged in shuttle diplomacy with Russia and Ukraine and last met Putin at the Kremlin on September 5. Both sides touted progress, but Kremlin rhetoric suggests Putin has not budged from his maximalist claims of the capitulation of Ukraine's government and the yielding of its occupied territories.
Following the meeting between Trump's envoys and Putin, Elina Beketova, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told Newsweek this month that diplomacy between the U.S. and Russia was still important and these channels "need to remain open." "But diplomacy alone is unlikely to stop Russian attacks," she said. "Russia is likely to stop when the cost of continuing the war becomes greater than the perceived benefits—either because Ukraine has the capabilities to make further attacks much more difficult for Russia, or because Russia faces serious consequences for continuing them." Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Dave Siminoff.
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