German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul Friday said that the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin at a G20 meeting could be the start of “serious negotiations” to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump invited the Russian president to the next G20 summit in Miami scheduled for December.
Many leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas expressed strong reservations about the invitation.
But Germany’s Wadephul struck a more optimistic tone during a press conference with his Canadian counterpart in Ottawa.
The invitation “will be a litmus test really, also for Vladimir Putin to negotiate. So these kind of opportunities, one would have to take advantage of,” he said. “Repeatedly we have asked the Russian government and Vladimir Putin to come to the negotiation table. And if it is a possibility, then perhaps it would be at least a start to serious negotiations.”
He then added that the prerequisite for a meaningful conversation would be for a ceasefire to be in place during the talks.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said she was surprised by Trump’s invitation to Putin, but added that Canada would show up regardless because that would be “what diplomacy truly is.”
Wadephul’s remarks diverged from his government’s official position. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius, had said earlier this week that “the German government does not view relations with Russia as business as usual” and that it was coordinating a joint response with its partners.
The German foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House’s invitation is the latest U.S. effort to reintegrate Moscow into the international diplomatic fold and could lead to `Putin’s first in-person G20 appearance since 2019.