Published On 4/24/2026
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Last update: 05:55 (Mecca time)
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at the G20 meeting would be useful.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump added that he doubted that Putin would attend the meeting scheduled to be held in Miami, Florida, during December.
A high-ranking White House official confirmed to Agence France-Presse – yesterday, Thursday – that Russia will be invited to the G20 summit, while Moscow has not yet announced whether its President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit.
Russian news agencies quoted Alexander Pankin – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister – as saying last Wednesday that his country was invited to participate in the summit “at the highest level.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also clarified on Thursday that the issue of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal participation in the summit has not yet been resolved.
Peskov said – during his daily press conference – that “no decision has been taken in this regard yet, but Russia has participated in every summit at the appropriate level. As the date of the summit approaches, a decision will be taken about the form of our participation.”
Arrest warrant
Putin did not attend the previous G20 summit – in Johannesburg in November 2025 – due to an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court, on charges of committing “war crimes” against the backdrop of the Russian war in Ukraine. Moscow was represented by his economic advisor, Maxim Oreshkin.
The United States holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year, which is a forum for economic cooperation between the world’s most prominent advanced and emerging economies.
The city of Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted the last G20 summit, amid a sharp diplomatic dispute between the host country and the United States regarding the level of American representation at the summit, which prevented the ceremony to hand over the rotating presidency to Washington.
