EU vows to condemn Ukraine war at G20 regardless of Putin's attendance

The European Union made clear on Thursday that it will not soften its message about Russia's war in Ukraine, even if Vladimir Putin shows up at the G20 summit scheduled for Miami in December. The United States, hosting the gathering this year, has extended an invitation to the Russian president. The Kremlin said Putin would "consider" attending—a response that leaves open the possibility he might decline, as he has done at the last two G20 summits despite formal invitations from the host nations.

EU spokesman Olof Gill stated the bloc's position plainly: the European Union would continue to condemn Russia's invasion and call for its end, regardless of who sits at the table. "Since 2022, the EU has consistently and forcefully used G20 meetings to condemn Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and to call for it to end," Gill said. "What I can say today is that this approach, from the European Union perspective, will continue, irrespective of the participants at any G20 meeting." He acknowledged that Russia remains a member of the G20 and retains the right to participate in its proceedings, but that acknowledgment carried no hint of hesitation about the EU's stance.

The diplomatic tension is real. Five G20 members—France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Canada—have called for Russia's exclusion from the group since the invasion began in February 2022. The EU itself, along with three of its member states, holds seats at the table, giving it substantial voice in the room. Yet the United States, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has chosen a different approach. Rubio announced the invitation after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "We think it's an opportunity for him to engage not just with President Trump, but with other world leaders," Rubio said. "We hope that's an invitation he'll accept."

Putin's last visit to the United States came in August 2025, when he traveled to Anchorage, Alaska for a summit with Trump—his first visit to a Western country since the war began. Whether he will travel to Miami remains uncertain, but the invitation itself signals a shift in how the current US administration views engagement with Moscow.

On the same day the EU made its statement, Russian strikes across Ukraine killed at least eight people and wounded twelve others. In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a cruise missile of the "Banderol" type struck a warehouse, killing at least six agricultural workers. The regional prosecutor's office released images of the destroyed structure. In Kyiv, at least two more people were killed in separate strikes. Additional attacks were recorded in and around Odesa, the southwestern port city, where officials said fires broke out at a shopping mall. The strikes underscored the ongoing toll of the war even as diplomats debated the terms of engagement at the highest levels.