US wants Poland to join G20 “as soon as possible”

The United States wants Poland to join the G20 “as soon as possible” and intends to raise the issue with other members of the international forum at its forthcoming summit in December in Miami, the US State Department has told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

Having previously endorsed Polish membership of the G20 in May, the US now says it intends to “continue discussions with G20 members this year on making Poland a full member as soon as possible”.

“Poland’s long-term and steady economic growth, combined with its growing leadership position in the international arena, make it an ideal participant,” the State Department told PAP.

Stany Zjednoczone oficjalnie zadeklarowały, że będą zabiegać o stałe członkostwo Polski w G20 https://t.co/lnZ583HIus

— Fakty RMF FM (@RMF24pl) October 11, 2026

The G20, a major intergovernmental forum that brings together 19 major countries together with the European Union and the African Union, is set to meet at a golf resort owned by President Donald Trump in Miami on 14-15 December. Poland is also participating this year as a guest of the United States.

PAP reports that the US has proposed that one of the points in the final declaration adopted by leaders at the conclusion of the summit refer to Poland’s permanent membership. However, this would require the assent of all current members, including Russia.

The issue is likely to be discussed in a pre-summit online meeting of so-called “sherpas” negotiating the text of the declaration, reports PAP.

After visiting Washington earlier this month, Marcin Przydacz, the head of President Karol Nawrocki’s international policy office, said that joining the G20 permanently is “Plan A”, but acknowledged that receiving a consensus from existing member states made this variant difficult.

He added that Nawrocki would travel to London before the summit to discuss the possibility of continuing Poland’s guest status next year, when the UK will host the G20. At a meeting of G20 trade ministers last week, finance minister Andrzej Domański said that Poland has a good chance of being invited next year.

Nawrocki also plans to visit G20 members Saudi Arabia and Argentina to canvass for support for Poland’s membership bid, Przydacz has confirmed.

A third option would be for Poland to become a “permanent guest”, a status typically reserved for organisations like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, but also held by Spain.

The United States has expressed "strong support for Poland’s accession to the G20 as a permanent member" following talks in Warsaw, after which it also emphasised "strong and growing" Polish-American relations https://t.co/qTpCACnMfu

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 2, 2026

Poland has long lobbied for membership in the group. In 2010, then-President Lech Kaczyński said “the place of my country is among the members of the G20”. In 2022, following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Polish government argued that their country should replace Russia.

Last December, the US invited Poland to join this year’s summit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Poland was “assuming its rightful place” at the forum.

Poland has argued that its membership is justified by its economy being on the verge of becoming the 20th largest in the world.

Though G20 membership is not decided solely on that basis, the G20 does include most of the world’s 20 largest economies (only Switzerland and the Netherlands have larger economies than Poland but no G20 membership).

Polish President @NawrockiKn “does not like” the fact that Donald Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Miami, says his chief foreign policy aide.

However, Nawrocki still plans to attend the event, which Poland is invited to as a guest https://t.co/JojsFB4NX6

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) September 26, 2026

In September, the United States provoked criticism from European leaders, including Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski, when it announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be invited to the Miami summit.

Subsequently, Przydacz confirmed that, although Nawrocki, who is a close ally of Trump, “does not like” the fact that Putin has been invited, the Polish president was still planning to attend the summit.

Sikorski likewise said he would attend a G20 meeting of foreign ministers in Atlanta in October even if a Russian representative was there and agreed that Poland should not boycott the summit in December.

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Main image credit: Mikołaj Bujak/KPRP