MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet decided whether he will attend the G20 summit in the United States in December, the Kremlin said on Thursday, despite reports that Moscow has received a formal invitation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, at a press briefing in Moscow, said that “no such decisions have been made yet” when asked about Putin’s possible participation in the summit.
Peskov added that Russia has also not decided who will represent the country at the gathering.
“Work on the G20 track continues. Closer to the summit, a decision will be made on the format of our participation,” Peskov said.
Russian state media reported that Moscow had been invited to attend the summit at a high level.
According to RIA Novosti, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said Russia had received an invitation “to participate at the highest level”.
The TASS news agency confirmed the invitation, quoting Pankin as saying that while Russia would take part, it remains unclear who will represent the country.
He noted that a final decision would be made closer to the event.
The G20 summit is scheduled to be held in Miami on December 14–15.
Putin has not attended a G20 summit since 2019. He first skipped meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic and later stayed away following the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
Since then, Russia has faced widespread international sanctions and diplomatic isolation from Western countries.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the Ukraine conflict.
In his absence, senior officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, have represented Russia at recent G20 gatherings, including those held in Bali in 2022 and India in 2023.
The upcoming summit will be hosted by the United States, which is not a member of the ICC.
Putin travelled to Alaska last August for a summit with US President Donald Trump, despite the arrest warrant.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has sought to revive relations with Moscow, aiming to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
However, despite multiple rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials, efforts have yielded limited results.
The G20 is an annual forum bringing together major developed and developing economies to address global economic and geopolitical challenges.
