A bipartisan coalition of 14 senators is pressing President Donald Trump to withdraw his invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the G20 summit.
The summit is scheduled for December 14-15 in Miami, with the gathering set to take place at Trump’s Doral resort.
Senators Roger Wicker and Jeanne Shaheen spearheaded the letter, representing both Republican and Democratic opposition to the invitation.
Wicker chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, while Shaheen serves as the leading Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Republican signatories include Sens. John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, John Curtis, Jerry Moran, and Alan Armstrong, alongside their Democratic colleagues.
Democratic signatories include Sens. Michael Bennet, Richard Blumenthal, Chris Coons, Ruben Gallego, Tim Kaine, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
The senators warned that welcoming Putin to United States soil would grant him “stature and legitimacy” while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.
The letter stated: “President Putin bears sole responsibility for launching Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. Allowing him to participate in a G20 Summit in the United States raises serious concerns about legitimizing and normalizing a government that continues to attack Ukrainian civilian targets every day.”
The senators also flagged that Putin, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and other members of the Russian delegation remain subject to existing U.S. sanctions.
According to the senators, the absence of international isolation could reduce Putin’s incentive to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine.
The letter follows Trump’s signing of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which the senators praised while questioning whether the Putin invitation undercuts that legislative pressure.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the invitation after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Rubio said the summit would give Putin an opportunity to engage directly with Trump and other world leaders gathered in Miami.
Bloomberg reported that Putin is likely to skip the G20 summit despite the formal invitation extended by the Trump administration.
The G20 brings together countries accounting for roughly 85% of the world’s economic output and more than half the global population.
The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the senators’ letter.
