Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, Sept. 24, that Russia “truly” appreciates a U.S. invitation for President Vladimir Putin to attend a G20 summit in Miami in December, but that no decision has been made on whether he will go, according to CNBC (opens in new tab) citing RIA Novosti and parallel coverage from Al Jazeera (opens in new tab) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (opens in new tab).
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the White House had invited Putin and hoped he would engage Trump and other leaders, CNBC (opens in new tab) and RFE/RL reported. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called normalizing leaders who start wars the “wrong path,” and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned Russia could view the invite as encouragement to continue aggressive policies, per the same accounts.
The invitation lands as overnight Russian drone and missile attacks killed at least eight people in Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, Al Jazeera (opens in new tab) and RFE/RL reported. Zelenskyy at the U.N. General Assembly called for more pressure on Moscow; Lavrov said Russia would not pause its military campaign for talks, RFE/RL said.
The Event Log marks attendance and any Trump–Putin bilateral as unsettled: Peskov welcomed the invite without accepting it, and no meeting date beyond the G20 frame was announced in Thursday coverage.