Russia Claims It Got Invited to G20 in the US—Who Will Represent Moscow Remains a Mystery

Russia has confirmed that it received an invitation to attend the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) summit in the United States at the highest level.

However, it has not yet been decided who will represent the country, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin, who said this to Russian state media TASS on April 23.

He claimed that Moscow had been invited to participate in the summit but emphasized that no final decision had been made regarding attendance.

“There is an invitation to be present at the highest level, but we will see closer to the date. God knows what will happen by then,” he said.

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The G20 summit is an annual gathering of leaders from the world’s largest economies, along with representatives from the European Union and the African Union. In 2026, the United States will hold the presidency, with the summit scheduled to take place in December in Miami, Florida.

Russia’s participation in top-level G20 meetings has been limited since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While Moscow has remained formally part of the group, its leader has not attended recent summits in person, instead sending senior officials to represent the country.

That absence has reflected both political isolation and practical constraints, as tensions with Western nations intensified and travel risks increased. As a result, Russia’s role at G20 gatherings in recent years has been more subdued, with its delegation often operating on the margins of broader discussions.

In 2025, a Russian delegation arrived in Washington for the first meeting of G20 sherpas under the United States’ chairmanship, marking Moscow’s return to the forum after a prolonged period of diplomatic isolation.

The delegation was led by Russia’s G20 sherpa, Svetlana Lukash, and included representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the presidential administration.

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