![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-1193155310-e1793384565739.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The U.S. scrapped plans for a photo of top diplomats of the Group of 20 largest world economies on the opening day of talks Friday as several Europeans objected to being photographed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and threatened to walk out of the photo session.<\/p>\n
The cancellation of the photograph, a traditional opening event at such a diplomatic gathering, underscored the deep rifts in the G20 over global crises that threaten international security and trade.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to cancel the photo after determining that the controversy would be a distraction, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The meeting in Atlanta, which will otherwise go ahead as planned, is meant to set the stage for a G20 leaders\u2019 summit hosted by President Donald Trump at his Miami golf club in December.<\/p>\n
The cancellation has added to concerns about the poor prospects for the G20 diplomats to reach consensus on many of the most contentious issues they face. Among them are the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, U.S. tariffs and Chinese machinations in the South China Sea. All have contributed to spikes in the global cost of fuel as well as uncertainty about trade.<\/p>\n
Rubio focused on casting ahead when opening the talks, saying he hoped for \u201ca productive meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in a critical moment \u2014 I would call it a moment of choosing, and I would say not just for my country, the United States of America, but frankly, for the world,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises,\u201d he added, many posing \u201csevere threats to essential foundations of the global economic order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s presence at G20 gathering roils Western allies<\/p>\n
Before the photo disagreement, some G20 countries had already expressed concern that the U.S. invited Russia during its heightened attacks on Ukraine. That is especially after Trump pushed ties with Ukraine to new lows by waiving fresh sanctions on Moscow and temporarily limiting logistical and intelligence assistance.<\/p>\n
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rados\u0142aw Sikorski said the cancellation of the group photo was \u201cthe right decision\u201d by the U.S., telling media in Atlanta that \u201cI am not the only one who does not want to be photographed with Lavrov.\u201d<\/p>\n
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said \u201cthere is no normality with Russia\u201d but \u201cwe must exchange the controversies at the table here,\u201d the German news agency dpa reported. He added that \u201cwe also must not send falsely optimistic signals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s foreign ministry complained of issues securing visas for its delegation that were only resolved at the last minute. Those complications had created the impression that \u201cnot everyone in Washington is happy\u201d about Lavrov attending, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. But he would use the meeting to advocate for the \u201cswift reform of global economic institutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Lavrov has traveled very infrequently to NATO member states since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and resulting severe sanctions were imposed on Moscow. His presence in Atlanta is likely to cause domestic political problems for Trump just days before the midterm elections as well as roil the G20\u2019s Western participants, according to Ian Kelly, a U.S. ambassador to Georgia during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems politically boneheaded to invite him,\u201d said Kelly, who now teaches international relations and diplomacy at Northwestern University outside Chicago.<\/p>\n
Kelly noted that many Republican lawmakers, who already fear losing their congressional majorities, are \u201ccranky\u201d with Trump\u2019s conciliatory approach to Putin.<\/p>\n
At the G20 event, Lavrov\u2019s attendance will almost certainly hurt efforts to produce a unified approach on the Russia-Ukraine war, Kelly said. \u201cIt will definitely take away from the message that at least the Western members want to send,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It is unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin will accept Trump\u2019s invitation to the December summit in Florida.<\/p>\n
G20 member South Africa was not invited<\/p>\n
Ukraine, which is not a G20 member but was invited to attend previous such meetings, was not invited this year as U.S. officials said they made a conscious choice to include only formal members of the group.<\/p>\n
But missing from the invite list was South Africa, a G20 founding member and the only African country in the group. South Africa is embroiled in several bitter disputes with the Trump administration, and when it chaired the G20 last year, top U.S. officials, including Trump and Rubio, shunned the meetings it hosted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have consistently maintained that our nonparticipation is not voluntary,\u201d said Phindile Kunene, spokesperson for South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola.<\/p>\n
Kunene welcomed support from other G20 members that had expressed reservations about the exclusion and said South Africa was ready to participate \u201con an equal footing with other members\u201d when Britain takes over the presidency next year.<\/p>\n
The Iran war hangs over the G20 event<\/p>\n
The U.S. has said a top priority for the meeting is resolving differences over issues related to freedom of navigation, particularly in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea and the South China Sea. The topic will include discussions on Iran, Russia-Ukraine and China and its smaller neighbors.<\/p>\n
But hanging over the meeting is the prospect of new U.S. military intervention in Iran, which has put the region, including G20 member Saudi Arabia, on edge.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press has reported that U.S. officials have told several Middle East countries and regional allies to be prepared for potential renewed military strikes against Iran after Tuesday\u2019s midterm elections and the possibility that Iran will retaliate against them.<\/p>\n
There is skepticism that the G20 members will be able to overcome their substantial differences.<\/p>\n
It will be less of a meeting and more of a test, said Elaine Dezenski, head of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank that is hawkish on Iran and other issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Atlanta meeting takes place within an environment of widening disagreement over the global economic order, and the right test is whether the U.S. can build cooperation with partners when all member consensus appears to be out of reach,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press writers Michelle Gumede in Johannesburg, South Africa, Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed.<\/p>\n
#U.S #scraps #G20s #opening #photo #Europeans #balk #posing #Russias #Lavrov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. scrapped plans for a photo of top diplomats of the Group of 20…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[23872,4760,8218,23871,23874,22777,7141,5091,23873,788,7242,19201,23870,722],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}