US cancels G20 photo after Europeans refuse to pose with Lavrov

The United States cancelled a group photo at a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta after European diplomats refused to pose alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The photograph was scheduled for Friday morning and would normally have included representatives of all nations attending. A US official said it was cancelled “after it became clear some of the delegations were unwilling to participate in a joint photo”.

“Rather than allow a ceremonial photo opportunity to become a diplomatic distraction, the US decided to forgo the photo and keep the focus on the substantive discussions,” the official told the BBC.

“There will be no family photo featuring our European partners together with Mr Lavrov,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, according to the dpa news agency, as reported by Al Jazeera. The BBC reported that Britain was among the countries that declined to take part. A British official cited the UK’s “longstanding policy not to have direct, bilateral engagement with Russian ministers since the invasion of Ukraine”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting the meeting, which brings together top diplomats from the world’s biggest economies for talks overshadowed by the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to the BBC, Russia controls approximately a fifth of Ukrainian territory and has intensified missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks.

Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, was not invited to the Atlanta meeting, though it has attended similar gatherings in recent years, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera reported that European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pledged to urge G20 partners to strengthen support for Ukraine and pursue accountability through a special tribunal and claims commission. Her remarks followed a Russian strike on a Ukrainian railway station that killed at least 14 people, according to Al Jazeera.

The meeting also follows President Donald Trump’s decision to waive some sanctions and allow Russian diesel imports to the United States. The BBC reported that Trump is seeking to lower fuel prices ahead of midterm elections in early November. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the arrangement “a gift” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and “an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged”. Trump said suspending several Russian sanctions was intended to keep Moscow at the negotiating table. Putin has said Russia is willing to supply oil and petroleum products to US and global markets.

Opening the talks, Rubio urged cooperation on crises threatening trade, energy and food supplies, and freedom of navigation, according to Al Jazeera’s account of dpa reporting. “Both maritime and food security drive economic security,” Rubio wrote on X.

No joint statement is expected, Al Jazeera reported, citing a diplomatic source who said Washington would issue a chair’s summary instead. No government has said whether Rubio and Lavrov will hold a formal bilateral meeting.