British PM Burnham says Putin will not be invited to Manchester G20 summit

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the G20 summit in Manchester in November 2027 because of sanctions. Meanwhile, Donald Trump invited the Russian leader to the G20 summit in Miami in December.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not receive an invitation to the G20 summit, which the United Kingdom will host in Manchester in November 2027. Asked by The Economist about the possibility of inviting the Russian leader, Burnham answered “no,” citing sanctions against the Kremlin.

The British prime minister said Putin “will not attend because of the sanctions currently in force” against senior Russian officials. Burnham added that invitations are formally issued by the G20 itself, rather than by the host country. “There are certain technical nuances here because, as I understand it, this is handled by the G20 itself, not the United Kingdom. Technically, it is possible, but he will not attend because of the sanctions imposed,” he said.

Президент России Владимир Путин

Trump invited Putin to Miami

London’s position differs from Washington’s approach. U.S. President Donald Trump invited Putin to the G20 summit, which will be held in Miami in December under the U.S. presidency. The Kremlin has not yet said whether the Russian leader will attend the meeting. Russia is a member of the G20, which also includes 18 other countries, the European Union and the African Union. Ukraine is not a member of the grouping.

Since 2022, the United Kingdom has maintained a policy of refusing direct bilateral contacts with Russian ministers. In October, European diplomats at a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting refused to be photographed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the traditional group photo of the participants was canceled.

Конгресс-центр Manchester Central, где пройдет саммит G20 в 2027 году

The Manchester summit

The two-day summit will be held at the Manchester Central convention center in the city center and will bring together world leaders, as well as thousands of diplomats and delegates. The last time the United Kingdom hosted a G20 summit was in 2009. The British government said it would use its 2027 presidency to strengthen global economic stability.

Burnham also called the upcoming meeting a “real opportunity” to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping on safety rules for artificial intelligence. “This currently seems like a difficult task, but we must seek global agreements on AI. If we fail to do so, the risks of recent times will continue to grow and intensify significantly,” the prime minister said. No official reaction from the Kremlin to his comments had been received at the time of publication.

Photo: social media, Wikimedia Commons

British PM Burnham says Putin will not be invited to Manchester G20 summit