US President Donald Trump said he is uncertain whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Miami this December, but stated that he “would love to have him” at the gathering.
Responding to questions from journalists regarding Putin’s prospective participation, Trump confirmed that the Russian leader’s attendance remains unconfirmed, Forbes TV News reported on Saturday, Oct. 17.
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“I don’t know if he’s coming. I would love to have him, certainly,” Trump told reporters.
The remarks follow earlier statements from the White House indicating an openness to hosting the Russian leader at the multilateral summit, which is scheduled to convene in Florida in December.
The prospective invitation has emerged as a point of contention among Western allies and European institutions, who have maintained an international diplomatic boycott of the Russian head of state since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
— Forbes Breaking News (@ForbesTVNews) October 16, 2026
European pushback
Trump’s openness to hosting Putin in Miami has drawn sharp criticism from European officials.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas previously condemned the diplomatic invitation, pointing to state-sponsored security threats and criminal indictments unsealed in the US involving Russian intelligence operations.
Kallas highlighted a September indictment by the US Department of Justice charging individuals linked to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) with plotting the contract assassination of a prominent Russian dissident on American soil.
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“Trump’s inviting Putin to the G20 was very hard to hear,” Kallas stated, arguing that hostile intelligence activities operate under direct instructions from the Kremlin.
The European Commission confirmed that the EU will use the Miami summit to condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, regardless of whether Putin travels to the event.
Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill emphasized that the 27-nation bloc has utilized every G20 platform since 2022 to demand the cessation of hostilities, reiterating that the stance will continue “irrespective of the participants at any G20 meeting.”
Any potential international travel by Putin also intersects with legal obligations surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for the Russian president in March 2023 over unlawful deportations of Ukrainian children.
While the US is not a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC and is not legally obligated under treaty law to execute ICC warrants, an in-person appearance by Putin would mark his first visit to a Western nation since the full-scale war began.
Kremlin positioning
The Kremlin has responded cautiously to public discussions regarding the Florida summit, sending mixed signals regarding whether Putin would accept an official US invitation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov previously described speculation regarding Putin’s travel as “premature,” noting that an official determination has not yet been finalized by the presidential administration.
Peskov also dismissed prospects for a prospective bilateral encounter between Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Miami meeting, reiterating Moscow’s stance that any substantive leader-level consultations could occur only in the Russian capital.
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