ATLANTA — The United States scrapped the traditional “family photo” at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta after European nations, the United Kingdom and Australia made clear they would not appear alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
About a third of the countries at the talks hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio had signalled they would boycott or walk out of the photo, the Guardian reported. “In no case will there be a family photo with European partners and Mr Lavrov together,” Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said beforehand.
A US official said that “rather than allow a ceremonial photo opportunity to become a diplomatic distraction,” Washington decided to forgo it.
Inside the meeting, Britain’s foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, addressed Lavrov directly: “We all know who the aggressor in this war is.” Australia’s Penny Wong condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as brutal and unjustified. Ukraine was not invited.
Rubio opened the talks with an appeal for unity, saying the world faced “a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises.”
Sources: BBC News, The Guardian
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