Putin invited to Miami G20 by Trump, Rubio says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit of world leaders in Miami in December.

Rubio said the invitation was intended to give Putin a chance to engage with Trump and other world leaders as Washington tries to secure a deal to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

“In order to solve problems, you have to meet with the people that you disagree with or the people that you might have some issues with,” Rubio told reporters in New York. “We hope that's an invitation he'll accept.”

Rubio spoke after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a hotel in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Lavrov told the UN Security Council that Moscow would not halt its war against Ukraine. “We are not going to have a pause in our special military operation,” he said, accusing Europe of wanting to use any halt to the fighting to “pump the Kyiv regime with weapons.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said after Lavrov's remarks that the comment “said it all”. He later said Russia was “spreading war” and called it “everyone's problem.”

In a joint declaration issued on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, 51 countries including France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada reaffirmed support for Ukraine. EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas, reading the statement with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Sybiga, said the countries were particularly concerned by attacks in the Black Sea.

The declaration said Russia was trying to choke off Ukrainian grain exports and called for safeguards for commercial shipping and critical infrastructure.

Rubio also encouraged Moscow and Kyiv to reach what he described as an energy ceasefire. He said such a limited halt would not end the war but could create a platform for a broader agreement, and said both sides had expressed interest in it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told journalists that Ukraine is ready to halt strikes on Russian energy sites if Moscow does the same. After meeting Trump on Tuesday, Zelensky said Washington and Kyiv wanted the war with Russia to end “before winter.”

The US and Russian presidents have spoken by telephone several times. Their last meeting was in 2025.