Sergey Lavrov arrived in Atlanta on October 30 to lead Russia’s delegation at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, one of his infrequent trips to a NATO member state since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A family photograph had been set for Friday morning, the opening day of talks hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Such photographs are intended to present a show of unity among global leaders.
That display fell apart before the cameras assembled. European diplomats, including representatives of the UK and Poland, refused to pose with Lavrov and threatened to leave the photo session.
Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, was among those who declined to be photographed with Lavrov. “I am not the only one who does not want to be photographed with Lavrov,” he told media in Atlanta.
Sikorski called the US decision “the right decision”. The UK was also among the countries that declined to take part. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband was attending as part of the UK delegation.
A British official said: “The UK has a longstanding policy not to have direct, bilateral engagement with Russian ministers since the invasion of Ukraine and we are not about to change that”.
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, also objected to appearing with Lavrov. “There will definitely not be a family photo in which our European partners are together with Mr. Lavrov,” he said.
Wadephul said “there is no normality with Russia” while adding that “we must exchange the controversies at the table here.”
Rubio, who is hosting the meeting, cancelled the photograph after concluding that the dispute would divert attention from the talks. A US official said the decision came “after it became clear some of the delegations were unwilling to participate in a joint photo”.
The official said: “Rather than allow a ceremonial photo opportunity to become a diplomatic distraction, the US decided to forgo the photo and keep the focus on the substantive discussions”.
The meeting in Atlanta runs from October 30 to 31 and brings together foreign ministers from the world’s largest economies. Talks continued without the planned photograph.
The dispute followed a similar episode at a G20 finance ministers’ summit in early September, when several participants declined to pose with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. The photographs were eventually taken without Siluanov.
Ukraine, which is not a G20 member, had been invited to similar meetings in recent years. It was not invited to this G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The G20 leaders’ summit is scheduled for mid-December in Miami.
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