US
G20 in Atlanta without a family photo: Europeans refuse to pose with Lavrov, Rubio cancels it
The two-day meeting of G20 foreign ministers opened in Atlanta without the traditional photo after several European diplomats threatened to walk out if Sergey Lavrov was in it.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 30, 2026, 20:50 · Updated 19:02 · 2 min read
In brief
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled the group photo after objections from several European ministers.
- Lavrov took part in the talks and sat at the same table as his counterparts.
- The meeting prepares the G20 leaders' summit that Trump is expected to host in Miami in December.
G20 foreign ministers opened a two-day meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, but without the traditional “family” photo. According to two U.S. officials quoted by the AP news agency, Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to drop the photo from the program after several European diplomats objected to posing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and warned they would walk out. Rubio, they said, wanted to keep the dispute over the photo from overshadowing the discussions.
“There is no normality with Russia”
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said before the meeting that “under no circumstances” would there be a photo of European partners together with Lavrov, “because there is no normality with Russia.” He added, however, that disagreements must be aired at the table and that no falsely optimistic signals should be sent. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski called the cancellation “the right decision” and said he was not the only one who did not want to be photographed with Lavrov.
According to a Western diplomat, about a third of the participants, including Australia and Canada, had objected to the photo. The Europeans had initially proposed two separate photos, one with Lavrov and one without him, but in the end it was dropped entirely. The Russian minister took part in the talks and sat at the same table as his counterparts.
“A moment of choosing”
Opening the meeting, Rubio said the world is at “a moment of choosing” and is facing “a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises.” The agenda includes the war in Ukraine, the conflict with Iran, U.S. trade tariffs and tensions in the South China Sea. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is among the participants.
The meeting is meant to prepare the G20 leaders' summit that President Donald Trump is expected to host in Miami in December. South Africa, a founding member of the group, is absent after not being invited by the U.S. administration; its authorities said the absence was not voluntary.
