Fourteen senators appeal to Trump to withdraw invitation to Putin for G20

Na letter, the senators stated that Putin is solely responsible for Russia's large-scale war against Ukraine and that he will have little incentive to agree to a ceasefire if he is not isolated from the international community.

“Allowing him to attend a G20 summit in the United States raises serious concerns about the legitimacy and standardisation of a government that continues to attack Ukrainian civilian targets daily,” the senators said in the letter.

Republican Senator Roger Wicker and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen led the initiative. Six other Democrats and six Republicans signed the letter.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed on Wednesday that the United States sent a formal invitation to Putin to attend the G20 summit in Miami.

“ We invited President Putin to the G20,” Rubio told journalists at a press conference outside the United Nations General Assembly.

“ We believe it is an opportunity for him to interact not only with the President [Donald Trump], but also with other world leaders”, reinforced the head of American diplomacy.

“ We hope he'll accept the invitation. There will be an opportunity in December, if this happens ", it has done.

The G20 summit will take place at the President's golf resort, Trump National Doral Miami, on 14 and 15 December.

Rubio, who also serves as Trump's national security adviser, met on Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to a statement from the State Department, both discussed the “war between Russia and Ukraine and bilateral relations between the US and Russia”.

The Russian Presidency (Kremlin) thanked Trump for inviting Putin without confirming his participation.

“ We gratefully received this kind invitation (...). We value this invitation. We will examine it and then there will be a consensus and the appropriate decision will be made,” said Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Thursday at his daily press conference by telephone.

“ For now, it's premature to talk about it. A decision has not yet been made,” said the Russian spokesman.

Under the leadership of Joe Biden, the US government imposed sanctions on Putin after Russia began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

However, the Trump government made an exception to the sanctions regime in August 2025 to allow Putin to travel to Alaska for a summit with the President.

An exception was also made for Anton Siluanov, Russian Finance Minister who was under sanctions, to participate in the recent G20 Ministerial Finance Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.

The Ukrainian allies who were part of the group reacted badly to Siluanov's participation and managed to get him excluded from the official photo of the event.