Trump’s G20 invitation to Putin is a jaw-dropping win for Russia

Even for a man who has long shown warmth to Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump’s move to invite the Russian leader to attend the G20 summit in Florida in December is jaw-dropping. “We’ve invited President Putin to the G20,” proclaimed Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State, on Wednesday. “We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the President, but with other world leaders.” Rubio’s framing of the news, which came after a meeting with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, contained not an ounce of criticism for Russia’s brutal and continuing war with Ukraine. Lavrov could be seen smiling like the Cheshire Cat in video clips distributed on social media, which speaks volumes about the victory the US invitation represents for Russia and its president. Shorts Trump may hope to claim some success in negotiating a deal to end the conflict, with his efforts in Iran falling well short, but his move may provoke leaders in the liberal West and Europe. Supportive of Volodymyr Zelensky’s efforts to withstand Russian attack and eager to realign Washington behind Kyiv, they are likely to be sceptical of the American President’s desire to project himself as a peace-making statesman during a grand event on US soil designed to match his love of spectacle and a made-for-television moment. Putin is the subject of a 2023 arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, where he faces war crimes charges related to his aggression in Ukraine. Zelensky and his European allies maintain that those acts are continuing, with Russia’s bombardment of the country now in its fifth year. Trump has previously urged the G7 to readmit Russia, saying it was a mistake to expel Putin from what was then known as the G8 following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Trump now seems to be going one step further. Echoing Kremlin talking points, the Trump White House is claiming that Putin deserves the chance to grace the corridors of international power. Whether the Russian leader will accept the invitation to rub shoulders with Andy Burnham, among others, is unclear. The Kremlin has only said it will consider the invitation. But it reinvigorates long-standing questions about why Trump seems to be so beguiled by Putin. Trump has created another headache for Volodymyr Zelensky, who now senses the need to try to head off a propaganda win for the Russian leader (Photo: Timothy A Clary/AFP) For Burnham and many of his G20 colleagues, the US helming of this year’s summit was already fraught with risk. While Trump’s team likes to say that the December meeting is being held in Miami, the venue is actually Doral, home to Trump National, the President’s private golf club, where world leaders are to gather and be accommodated. The decision to host the event at one of the President’s private businesses raises huge ethical questions, despite Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that it was the G20 that first proposed the idea. He has also promised that the Trump family’s business will not make a penny out of the event. G20 leaders seem to have gone along with this, but now Putin’s possible presence raises the stakes even further. Trump has also created another headache for Zelensky, with whom he has a tense relationship. Sensing the need to try to head off a propaganda win for the Russian leader, the Ukrainian president said on Wednesday that he, too, might travel to Doral. Zelensky suggested that the meeting could represent the “best chance” yet for a face-to-face negotiation with Putin, telling German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that: “We have to come. We have to meet, to speak, and make decisions”. But it is not yet clear whether Trump will invite Zelensky to the Sunshine State – Ukraine is not a member of the G20 – or whether Putin would agree to attend the meeting if the Ukrainian leader was present. Earlier this week, the Kremlin insisted it was “too early” to arrange lower-level meetings between Russian and Ukrainian officials, which may serve as an indication of Putin’s determination to continue waging his war. Trump, who falsely claimed in his UN speech on Monday to have resolved “eight wars”, has suggested that peace between Kyiv and Moscow “is going to happen… more quickly than people understand”. But Trump’s special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, made only their first trip to Kyiv this month – compared to eight visits to Moscow since Trump returned to power. Many of Ukraine’s allies in Europe worry that Trump will force Zelensky to yield territory as part of a peace settlement, so that he can declare a win and claim credit. Burnham and other G20 leaders – who will be keen to focus on ending the stalemate in the Middle East between Iran and the US – will be unenthused about that process playing out anywhere, but especially during a global summit helmed by Trump at his own golf resort. But Trump, ever the bomb-throwing disruptor, wants Putin at Doral’s top table. The ball is now in the Russian leader’s court. Key context The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an international forum that brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies to discuss and co-ordinate economic policy. Its participants represent about 85 per cent of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday: “If ​inviting Putin to the G20 ​could bring us closer to a just ‌peace, ⁠I would be absolutely in favour of it. However – and this is both ​my concern ​and ⁠what my experience tells me – at this stage, Russia ​might well view it as ​an ⁠encouragement to continue its aggressive policies. That is what I fear.” The upcoming summit is being held from 14-15 December in Florida. The November 2027 summit will take place at the Manchester Central Convention Centre. Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, said he was “really pleased” he would be welcoming the US President to the city