DOMINANT ANGLE
Helsinki is sending a dual signal: President Alexander Stubb confirms he will attend the G20 summit in Miami in December, at the same table where Washington has invited Vladimir Putin, while Kyiv is simultaneously waving the risk of a Russian strike targeting Finland.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Marco Rubio announced Vladimir Putin's invitation to the G20 summit, scheduled in Miami on December 14 and 15, after a meeting with Sergey Lavrov in New York.
- 02
President Alexander Stubb, also invited to the summit, confirmed his participation: "For now, I'm going to Miami."
- 03
Volodymyr Zelensky judged the risk of a Russian strike targeting countries bordering Russia or Belarus as "really very high", explicitly citing the country.
ANALYSIS
Helsinki, September 24, 2026. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin had been invited to the G20 summit, scheduled to take place in Miami on December 14 and 15, after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "To resolve issues, you have to meet with people you disagree with," he justified, according to MTV Uutiset. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that Russia was "grateful" for the invitation: "We have seen the information in the media and the minister's statements. We appreciate this invitation," he said, quoted by Iltalehti, specifying that a decision would be made "through diplomatic channels." However, Kremlin diplomatic advisor Yuri Ushakov tempered this on the same day: Putin's participation "has not even been discussed yet." Sources close to the Kremlin, cited by Bloomberg, consider it unlikely that the Russian president will travel to Miami; instead, he is expected to attend the APEC summit organized by Xi Jinping in Shenzhen in mid-November. Putin has not attended a G20 summit since 2019.
For Finland, the stakes are direct: President Alexander Stubb has also been invited to the summit, and he confirmed his participation at a press conference in New York: "For now, I'm going to Miami." He hopes that the discussions will lead to a meeting between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Volodymyr Zelensky, while acknowledging that "there is still a way to go." The issue takes on particular significance after the warning issued by Zelensky in New York: the Ukrainian president judged the risk of a Russian strike, by drones, missiles, or on the ground, targeting countries bordering Russia or Belarus - explicitly mentioning Finland. Zelensky also stated before the General Assembly that Russia is recruiting citizens from 47 countries as soldiers. On the same day, Helsinki and Kyiv signed a bilateral agreement on drones, a sign of the strengthened military ties between the two capitals. The Kremlin, for its part, maintains that it is up to Zelensky to travel to Moscow to negotiate.
SOURCES (4)
- YLE UutisetMEDIUM
- IltalehtiMEDIUM
- MTV UutisetMEDIUM
- Ilta-SanomatMEDIUM
