Rubio and Lavrov discuss possible Putin–Trump meeting at APEC summit in Atlanta

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 31 October, at a press conference after the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Atlanta, that he had a brief conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and that they discussed a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the APEC summit to be held in China.

Rubio stressed that it was not a formal meeting: "We didn't have a meeting. We spoke." According to him, Lavrov's participation in the G20 meeting in Atlanta created a good opportunity to continue contacts with Russia. Rubio noted that there were no firm commitments yet regarding the G20 summit to be held in December.

On the war in Ukraine, Rubio said: "I don't know whether a path of peaceful negotiations in Ukraine is possible. We are trying to find that out. I don't think anyone here is saying that we are on the verge of a peaceful settlement."

Rubio also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could be invited to the G20 summit in Miami in December if Trump believes his presence could lead to a positive outcome.

The G20 foreign ministers' meeting was held in Atlanta on 30–31 October. On the first day, the traditional group photo was cancelled after European diplomats refused to be photographed with Lavrov. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said: "There will be no family photo featuring our European partners together with Mr Lavrov." Ukraine was not invited to the meeting.

No joint communiqué was adopted at the meeting; instead, Rubio released a chair's statement summarising the discussions. At the meeting Lavrov said Moscow would not allow Ukraine to pose a "military threat to legitimate security interests of the Russian Federation."

In September the United States announced that it had invited Vladimir Putin to the G20 leaders' summit in Miami in December. It is not yet known whether Putin will accept the invitation.