The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta opened Friday without its usual group photograph after European officials objected to appearing alongside Russia’s Sergey Lavrov.
The absence showed divisions over Ukraine and other global crises. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio chaired the two-day gathering and canceled the photo. Several European diplomats had threatened to boycott the photo or walk out of it, U.S. officials told the Associated Press.
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said a joint picture with Lavrov would suggest normal relations with Moscow. European officials had reportedly considered taking separate photographs. The meeting went ahead, and Rubio urged delegates to work together amid connected political and economic challenges.
The agenda includes the war in Ukraine, conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, U.S. tariffs, and tensions in the South China Sea. These disputes also raise concerns about energy supplies, trade and whether ships can travel freely. The Atlanta talks are intended to prepare for a G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for December in Miami.
The canceled photo was a visible sign of how strained relations over Russia remain within the group.