By placing the decision with Trump and declining to close the door, Rubio keeps a diplomatic option alive without committing the administration to it.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that President Donald Trump will decide later whether to invite Volodymyr Zelensky to the G20 summit near Miami on 14-15 December, according to TASS. Speaking at a press conference after the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, Rubio left the possibility open when asked about an invitation for the Ukrainian leader.
"Look, that's a leaders-level meeting. That would be up to the president to decide. I wouldn't rule it out," Rubio said, as quoted by TASS. He added that Zelensky's participation could be considered if it could produce positive results, but said he had nothing to announce on the matter.
The remarks are notable chiefly for what they leave unsaid. The G20 is a leaders-level forum, and the question of who attends its December session is a signal of political intent rather than a matter of protocol. By placing the decision with Trump and declining to close the door, Rubio keeps a diplomatic option alive without committing the administration to it. The formulation that participation could be considered if it produced positive results sets a condition without defining what would count as a positive result, or who would judge it.
The timing matters. A G20 summit in the United States would place the Ukrainian question at the centre of a gathering that also includes states with differing positions on the war. An invitation to Zelensky would carry weight beyond the summit itself, while a decision not to invite him would be read as a statement in its own right. Rubio's comments suggest that the administration is aware of both readings and is in no hurry to choose between them.
What is not yet known is substantial. There is no indication of when Trump will decide, what criteria he will apply, or whether any invitation has been discussed with Kyiv. Nor is it confirmed that Zelensky would accept an invitation if one were extended. The report does not say whether the question was raised during the foreign ministers' meeting itself, or whether other G20 members have taken a position on Ukrainian participation.
For now the record consists of a single exchange at a press conference: a conditional answer, an open door and no announcement. That is enough to sustain speculation about the December summit, but not enough to settle it. The decision, when it comes, will be Trump's, and Rubio has said only that it has not yet been made.
