Will Putin go to the US? - Russia welcomes G20 invitation for Miami but keeps its cards close

We hope he accepts the invitation

"We hope that he will accept this invitation. If the opportunity arises in December—if everything develops appropriately and there is reason for a meeting—that would be positive," stressed the US Secretary of State. At the same time, commenting on the prospect of a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Trump, Rubio noted that such contacts should yield a concrete result and, therefore, require serious preparatory work. For the time being, according to him, a bilateral meeting between the two leaders has not been discussed. The G20 summit will take place on December 14–15 in Miami.

Will Putin travel to the US?

As early as April, the Washington Post had reported that the head of the White House was planning to invite Vladimir Putin to the summit. "So far, official invitations have not yet been sent; however, Russia is a member of the Group of Twenty and will be invited to both the ministerial meetings and the leaders' summit," a senior US administration official had told the newspaper. Trump himself had pointed out at the time that a visit by the Russian president would be very useful, because "we need to talk to everyone." However, immediately afterward he expressed doubts about whether Vladimir Putin would actually attend the summit. On the same day, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Alexander Pankin announced that Russia had been invited to the G20 meeting in the US "at the highest level." At the same time, he noted that it was not yet clear who would ultimately represent Moscow.

Cards kept close by the Kremlin

Later in the summer, the special envoy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Marat Berdyev, mentioned that Washington was sending a message that it would like to see the President of Russia at the upcoming meeting. Peskov, commenting on the matter, had stated that Russia would participate in the G20 summit at a high level, without clarifying whether Putin would travel there. Subsequently, in September, Russian presidential advisor Yuri Ushakov revealed that the possibility of Vladimir Putin attending the summit had not yet been discussed. Bloomberg recently reported that the Russian leader does not intend to attend the summit. "According to sources close to the Kremlin, the President of Russia plans to attend the APEC summit in person—for the first time since 2017. Conversely, the likelihood of him attending the G20 summit in Florida alongside President Trump is extremely low," the report stated.

Trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping?

In Russia, officials have not ruled out the possibility of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump, and Chinese President Xi Jinping taking place at the APEC summit, which will be held on November 18–19 in Shenzhen.

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