Trump Urges Zelensky to Visit Moscow as U.S. Senators Seek to Block Putin From G20 in Miami
Donald Trump again encouraged Volodymyr Zelensky to travel to Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin during their UN meeting, Bloomberg reports, while a bipartisan group of 14 U.S. senators urged Trump to withdraw Putin’s invitation to the G20 summit in Miami.
U.S. politics over Russia’s war in Ukraine is pulling in sharply different directions as Donald Trump’s reported diplomacy with Volodymyr Zelensky clashes with a Senate push to keep Vladimir Putin off the global stage.
Bloomberg reports that during their meeting at the UN this week, Trump again encouraged Zelensky to travel to Moscow for talks with Putin. People familiar with Zelensky’s position told Bloomberg that the Ukrainian president rejected the idea and that Trump’s decision to raise it upset him. There is no indication from the reporting that Kyiv is considering such a visit.
In a separate move, a bipartisan group of 14 U.S. senators called on Trump to withdraw Putin’s invitation to the G20 summit in Miami. In a letter, they argued that allowing Putin to participate “would legitimize Russia’s war against Ukraine” and said he is responsible for launching the full‑scale invasion. They wrote that inviting him while Russia continues attacks on Ukrainian civilians raises “serious concerns.” The letter was led by senators whose full names were not given in the initial summary, but it was described as bipartisan.
These developments point to a stark contrast in approaches. Trump is reported to be urging direct talks between Zelensky and Putin in Moscow—even as Russian forces continue to hit Ukrainian civilians—while senators from both parties are pressing to exclude the Russian president from a high‑profile summit hosted on U.S. soil.
The clash comes as the Trump administration moves to use remaining U.S. military aid for Ukraine. According to Reuters, citing three sources, the administration plans to commit the full $400 million in congressionally approved military assistance for Ukraine before the funding expires on 30 September. Reuters reports that $307 million has already been obligated and that the remaining $93 million is expected to be placed under contract before the deadline. Initial deliveries include offensive weapons and spare parts for armored vehicles, Reuters says.
Whether the White House responds publicly to the senators’ letter on Putin’s G20 invitation, and whether either Trump or Zelensky comments directly on the Moscow‑talks idea, will show how far these competing lines of policy are likely to run in parallel.
Sources
- OSINT