Burnham will not follow Trump in inviting Putin to the G20, London reports

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be invited to next year's G20 summit in the UK. He made the remark in an interview published on Thursday, when the Economist magazine pressed him on the question.

Asked whether the Russian president will be included in the gathering of world leaders in Manchester next November, Burnham said simply: 'No.'

Burnham's decision to exclude Putin comes after US President Donald Trump sparked a diplomatic row by inviting the Russian leader to America's G20 summit in Miami this December, according to the report.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband previously said Britain will not ditch its ban on directly engaging with Russia, but that it was for the US to make its own decisions.

A photocall at the G20 foreign ministers meeting last week was cancelled after politicians, including Miliband, refused to be pictured with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to the report.

Britain has been one of Ukraine's staunchest allies since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. All five British prime ministers in post during nearly five years of war have followed that policy, the report said.

Burnham also told the Economist he is keen to host Xi Jinping, after the Chinese president visited Manchester in 2015. He said there is a 'real opportunity' for future UK-China economic collaboration after his predecessor Keir Starmer's visit to Beijing earlier this year.