UK PM Andy Burnham says Putin will not be invited to next year's G20 summit

Burnham's one-word answer

British prime minister Andy Burnham said on Thursday, 5 November 2026, that Vladimir Putin will not be invited to the G20 leaders' summit the United Kingdom hosts next year. Asked by The Economist whether the Russian president would receive an invitation, Burnham answered 'No'. Reports of the exchange appeared the same day in Polish, Greek and Romanian media, and all of them quote the same one-word reply. The summit is scheduled for November in Manchester, the largest city in north-west England. Burnham was previously mayor of Greater Manchester, a link several reports pointed out in connection with the venue.

Office silent, Washington invites

Burnham's office had not responded to a Reuters request for comment at the time the reports were published. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in September that Washington had invited Putin to this year's G20 summit, scheduled for December in Miami. According to Rubio, the meeting could give the Russian leader a chance to talk with President Donald Trump and other world leaders. The two governments therefore take opposite positions on whether the Russian president should be at a G20 gathering in the coming year.

Russia's place in the group

Russia remains a member of the G20 despite Western efforts to isolate it after the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hosts of the annual summit traditionally invite all members of the group, which is the standard that Burnham's answer departs from. Rubio's September statement and Burnham's reply therefore concern two different editions of the same forum, one in Miami and one in Manchester. The Greek report placed the British summit in 2027, while the Polish reports described it as taking place next year in November.

How the remark spread

The Economist's question and Burnham's reply were carried by Nasz Dziennik and RMF24 in Poland, G4Media in Romania, and Kathimerini and SKAI in Greece. Several of these reports credited Reuters for the detail that Burnham's office had not answered its request for comment. The remark was reported as a short answer rather than a policy statement, and none of the articles describe a longer statement from Burnham on the subject. The Polish RMF24 report framed the matter as one that may be personal for Burnham, given his link to Manchester.