According to Tass, U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 16th that he 'of course' hopes to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the upcoming G20 Summit, but he is not sure if the latter will be present.
When asked about this by reporters, Trump said, "I don't know if he (Putin) will come. Of course, I very much hope that he will be present."
The G20 leaders' summit is scheduled to take place in Miami, USA, in December this year. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Putin has been absent from the G20 leaders' summit, with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov representing him.
Previously, U.S. Secretary of State Rubicoff stated that the U.S. has extended an invitation to Putin to attend the G20 summit, “We hope he will accept the invitation.”
Russian G20 affairs coordinator and director of the Expert Bureau of the Presidential Office, Dmitry Agafonov, said at a press conference held by the Russian Embassy in the United States that whether Putin will attend this year's G20 summit will depend on a range of factors, including the substantive preparations for the summit and the overall geopolitical context.
He said that the final decision will be made near the date of the summit.
