US cancels G20 group photo after ministers object to Lavrov’s presence

The United States cancelled the traditional group photograph at the G20 summit in Atlanta after ministers objected to appearing alongside Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov. The meeting itself went ahead, but the dispute over the picture exposed divisions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Nieuws.nl, citing the ANP news agency, reports that several foreign ministers threatened to walk out of the photo session. CNN sources told the outlet that more than a third of ministers present said they would not take part if Russia was included. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio considered taking two pictures, one with Russia and one without, but dropped the idea.

Lavrov criticised the objections. “If the most important thing for them is how they appear in the group photo and who stands next to them, then that says everything,” he said, according to Nieuws.nl.

The cancelled photograph follows an earlier G20 ministers’ meeting in Atlanta where the United States also dropped a group picture after objections to Lavrov. The earlier meeting went ahead; the latest report says the summit’s traditional photograph was cancelled.

The G20 brings together 20 major economies. The United States did not invite the Netherlands to this year’s summit, Nieuws.nl reports.