by Ben Whedon
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday confirmed that President Donald Trump had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Miami, Fla., to attend the G20 summit in December.
Rubio confirmed the invitation in remarks to reporters after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Politico reported.
“We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept,” Rubio said.
On Truth Social on Monday, Trump said, “Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine.”
“A large number of their Diesel refineries have been blown up and are, at least temporarily, out of commission. This ridiculous and never ending War with Ukraine must be ended. The whole World suffers as 25,000 people, mostly soldiers, are being killed each month. What a shame!” he added.
Trump campaigned on ending the Ukraine war in 24 hours, though that deadline has long since come and gone. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently indicated a willingness to meet with Putin personally to end the war.
Notably, Trump has sought to rehabilitate Russia on the world stage in preparation for a possible sanctions relief that would be expected to come with any peace deal.
Putin has not publicly accepted the invitation as of press time, but he previously met with Trump in Alaska amid the war.
This week, Trump will be meeting with China President Xi Jinping, who is expected to arrive in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News.  Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
