Published on October 30, 2026
The United States has abandoned the traditional group photo of foreign ministers after European officials refused to be photographed alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The decision reveals deep divisions within the Group of 20 (G20), whose foreign ministers meet in Atlanta, in the southern United States, for negotiations overshadowed by the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
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“There will be no family photo showing our European partners with Mr. Lavrov,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, according to the dpa news agency.
Lavrov, who remains under Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, arrived in Atlanta ahead of the talks, Russian state media reported. Moscow said Thursday it would use his speech to oppose international sanctions. Ukraine was not invited, Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reported.
A diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that Russia’s presence at the G20 “in no way legitimizes its actions.”
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pledged Thursday to urge G20 partners to step up their support for Ukraine and hold a special court and claims commission to account, after a Russian strike on a Ukrainian train station killed at least 14 people earlier in the day.
The meeting also comes weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump granted sanctions waivers allowing Russia to export diesel to lower fuel prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Opening the negotiations, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged members to cooperate in the face of economic and geopolitical crises that threaten global trade, energy and food supplies as well as freedom of navigation, dpa reported. Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz after US-Israeli strikes began in late February, and global energy prices have risen sharply since.
“Maritime and food security determine economic security,” Rubio wrote on X.
No joint statement is expected. A diplomatic source told the AFP news agency that Washington would instead release a summary of the president that it wrote. The source added: “The G20 is no longer really a forum where foreign ministers can reach agreement on a declaration. »
Neither government has clarified whether Rubio and Lavrov will hold a formal bilateral meeting.
China sent Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu in place of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a delegation list released by the State Department. South Africa, a founding member of the G20, was excluded by Washington, and the African Union is represented by the Burundian Edouard Bizimana.
The Atlanta negotiations constitute the last ministerial meeting of the American presidency of the G20 before the leaders’ meeting in Miami on December 14 and 15.
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