G20 Foreign Ministers Skip Group Photo After Refusal to Pose with Russian Envoy

At the G20 foreign ministers’ summit in Atlanta on October 30‑31, organizers cancelled the traditional group photo after several ministers declined to pose with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The decision, made to avoid a diplomatic incident and keep the summit’s agenda in focus, mirrors a similar incident at the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in early September, where participants refused to pose with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and the photo was taken without him. The foreign ministers’ summit precedes the G20 leaders’ meeting in Miami in December, where Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited but the Kremlin has not yet confirmed his attendance. Russia’s finance minister’s presence marks his first appearance at a G20 summit since the full‑scale invasion of Ukraine.