“Now is not the time to go to Putin.” Italian Prime Minister Meloni opposed Russia’s invitation to the G20 summit

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has opposed Putinʼs invitation to the G20 summit, which is scheduled to be held in Miami at the end of the year.

She is quoted by the publications Ansa and Il Messaggero.

"As for Putin at the G20 summit, I think right now we should be asking Putin to take some steps forward, not taking them ourselves," Meloni said.

She noted that Europe and the United States have already taken many such steps towards Moscow in recent months, but have not seen a response.

“I believe that now is the time to demand them from Russia,” the Italian Prime Minister added.

• On April 23, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the country had been invited to the G20 summit in the United States at the highest level. US President Donald Trump said that he was unaware of the invitation, but was not opposed to Putin coming to Miami.
• In 2025, Putin did not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Russian delegation was led by the dictatorʼs deputy chief of staff Maxim Oreshkin.
• The US President Donald Trump was also absent from that summit — he complained at the time that South Africa should not be in the G20 at all, and accused the country of genocide against white South Africans, who are mostly descendants of Dutch and French settlers.

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