The traditional “family photo” to open the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting has been abruptly canceled in the United States after a number of nations – including Australia and the United Kingdom – refused to appear alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled the plug after several European officials, the United Kingdom and Australia made it known that they would boycott or abandon the snapshot that often begins these types of international meetings. Rubio still opened the talks in Atlanta with a call for unity on issues that threaten international security and trade. “We are at a critical moment,” Rubio told his colleagues. “We are facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises.” About a third of the countries at the talks made it known that they would not appear alongside any Russian representatives. European Union nations had made it clear that they would boycott any photos with the Russians. “In no case will there be a family photo with the European partners and Mr. Lavrov together because… there is no normality with Russia,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warned before Friday’s session. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband promised something similar. “We don’t engage that way with the Russians and haven’t for several years,” he said. During the opening session of the meeting, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as brutal and unjustified – in front of Lavrov – saying Russia’s illegal war had affected international markets and worsened global food security. A spokesman for Wong said Australia supported the United States’ decision to cancel the group photo. “Australia has been clear and consistent: we will not normalize Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s position on Ukraine is inflexible, as is its opposition to Poland’s membership in the G20. Those disagreements, which also include the Trump administration’s failure to invite G20 member South Africa despite the objections of others, will likely prevent foreign ministers from producing a joint statement when the meetings conclude on Saturday, participants said. That was not surprising. to Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, who is representing his country for the first time as a guest at a G20. “We have wars going on and we have participants in those wars around the table, so it is very difficult to agree on a common line,” he told reporters. next month’s G20 leaders, hosted by President Donald Trump, in Florida, be a success. Member of the G20, but was not invited to attend previous meetings, it was not invited this year, and US officials said it was a deliberate choice to include only formal members of the group. Poland, which is not a member, is seeking formal membership with the support of the United States. But South Africa, a founding member of the G20 and the only African country in the group, was missing from the guest list. Trump, and when he chaired the G20 last year, senior U.S. officials, including Trump and Rubio, rejected meetings he hosted. “We have consistently maintained that our non-participation is not voluntary,” said Phindile Kunene, a spokesman for South Africa’s international affairs minister, Ronald Lamola.
