Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on economic issues at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 17, 2026.
Vyacheslav Prokofiev
via REUTERS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States has invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to December’s G20 summit in Miami. “We hope that’s an invitation he’ll accept,” Rubio said.
He should be ashamed to say it in this community.
Rubio has spent his career posing as a champion of people who flee dictators. Now, as America’s chief diplomat, he is extending a welcome to the ruler who ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A handshake, a motorcade and a seat among world leaders are political gifts. Putin has done nothing to earn them.
Putin’s invasion violated Ukraine’s sovereignty. The United Nations General Assembly demanded that Russian forces withdraw. In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant alleging that Putin bears responsibility for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied territory. That is an allegation, not a conviction. It is also a grave fact Rubio cannot brush aside with talk of diplomatic opportunity.
The United States is not a party to the treaty establishing the court, so the warrant does not itself require American authorities to arrest Putin in Miami. But the absence of a legal duty to arrest him creates no duty to invite him. Being legally able to host Putin does not make hosting him wise or honorable.
And what would that welcome say in Miami?
What would a Cuban family that fled the tyranny of the Castros make of Rubio’s hopeful invitation? What would Venezuelans who escaped the Chávez and Maduro dictatorships think if they see dictator Putin received in their adopted community?
What would Nicaraguans who fled Ortega’s repression tell their children about a country that denounces authoritarian cruelty in speeches and then welcomes this authoritarian ruler wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes for a summit?
These families know that ceremonies send messages. Rubio asks them to watch the United States give Putin a prize the Kremlin plainly values: the chance to be received in the heart of the Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan diaspora as a leader back in good standing. What does Ukraine receive in return?
Miami’s history makes Rubio’s position more disgraceful. In 1990, local officials withheld an official welcome from Nelson Mandela because he had praised Fidel Castro. Their snub of a man who spent 27 years imprisoned for resisting apartheid wounded Black Miamians and helped spark a boycott. Rubio played no part in that decision. But consider the standard it exposed: Miami officials treated praise for a dictator as grounds to deny a welcome. Rubio now hopes the man who ordered an invasion that has cost thousands of innocent civilians their lives will accept his.
The answer cannot simply be “diplomacy.” American officials can speak with Russia. Russia can send another representative to the G20. Trump can pursue serious negotiations without offering Putin the pageantry of a Miami summit. If Rubio believes Putin’s presence offers a real chance of peace, he should tell the public what Russia has agreed to do, how Ukrainian sovereignty will be protected and how any agreement would be enforced. He has foolishly offered the invitation without offering those answers: prestige first, progress later.
Every elected leader representing Miami-Dade should take a public position now. Our mayors, commissioners, members of Congress and state legislators should say plainly whether they support Putin’s visit. Those who invoke the suffering of Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan exiles when it suits them should apply their stated principles here. A bland statement about “supporting Ukraine” will not answer the question: Should Vladimir Putin be welcomed to Miami — yes or no? Silence is a position, too. Miami deserves an answer.
President Trump should withdraw the invitation. Keep diplomatic channels open. Negotiate for peace with Ukraine’s full participation. But stop handing Putin the prestige of a summit appearance without a verifiable agreement that protects Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Rubio built his career telling Miami-Dade’s exile community that their suffering at the hands of despots mattered. Now he hopes Putin will accept an invitation to their community. Miami was built by people who escaped tyrants like Putin. We should not roll out a red carpet for him.
Fernand R. Amandi is a Miami-based political strategist, political strategist and president of Bendixen & Amandi International and a lecturer at the University of Miami.