The traditional “family photo” to open the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting has been abruptly cancelled in the US after a host of nations – including Australia and the UK – refused to appear beside the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, pulled the plug after several European officials, the UK and Australia made it known they would boycott or walk out of the snapshot that often kicks off such international gatherings.
Rubio still opened the talks in Atlanta with an appeal for unity on the issues that threaten international security and trade.
“We are in a critical moment,” Rubio told his colleagues. “We are facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises.”
About one-third of countries at the talks made it known they would not appear beside any Russian representatives.
European Union nations had made clear they would boycott any photo with the Russians. “In no case will there be a family photo with European partners and Mr Lavrov together because … there is no normality with Russia,” Germany’s foreign affairs minister, Johann Wadephul, warned ahead of Friday’s session.
The UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, promised similar. “We do not engage in that way with the Russians and have not for a number of years,” he said. » | Ben Doherty and Associated Press | Saturday, October 31, 2026
