WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit in Miami in December, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday, offering the Russian leader a chance to meet with Trump and other world leaders despite Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. “We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president, but with other world leaders,” Rubio told reporters in New York after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. “We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept.” The Russian Foreign Ministry had not immediately confirmed whether Putin would attend. If he does, it could be Putin’s first in-person appearance at a G20 summit since 2019 and only his second trip to the United States since Trump returned to the White House last year. The invitation comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year. Russian forces launched an all-day drone assault on Kyiv Wednesday that killed at least two people and damaged major infrastructure, according to the report. Rubio defended direct engagement with Moscow, saying diplomacy requires talks with governments whose interests conflict with those of the United States and its allies. “If you only meet with people that you agree with, then these are very nice meetings but nothing happens,” Rubio said. “In order to solve problems, you have to meet with people that you disagree with or the people that you might have some issues with.” Trump has recently pressed Ukraine to stop attacking Russian oil refineries, arguing that those strikes have contributed to higher global gasoline prices. Earlier this month, he said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire, but both countries have continued to target energy facilities. Putin last visited the United States in August 2025, when Trump welcomed him with a red-carpet ceremony in Alaska. That meeting did not produce a peace agreement, and Trump later turned his attention to other foreign-policy issues. A Putin appearance in Miami would place the Russian president at the center of a major gathering of the world’s leading economies while the war and its humanitarian and economic consequences remain unresolved. It would also signal a further effort by the Trump administration to bring Moscow back into high-level international diplomacy, despite Russia’s continued military campaign against Ukraine.