G20 Foreign Ministers Scrap Family Photo as Many Refuse to Pose With Lavrov
The Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, opened on Friday without the traditional "family photo," after many representatives refused to be pictured alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the U.S. hosts took the photo off the programme altogether. A U.S. official said the State Department had taken the family photo off the official agenda because Washington did not want it to become a spectacle or distraction, Reuters reported.
A Western diplomat said a third of the participants, including Australia and Canada, made clear they opposed the idea of being photographed alongside Lavrov. "In no case will there be a family photo with European partners and Mr. Lavrov together because there is no normalcy with Russia," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters before the first session on Friday. European officials had earlier suggested there might be two separate pictures — one with Lavrov and one without.
According to CNN, more than a third of attending officials had threatened to walk out of a picture with the Russian foreign minister, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio ultimately decided to scrap the photo. At a press conference in Atlanta, Lavrov dismissed the "family photo diplomacy" controversy, telling reporters: "If what matters most to them is how they look in the family photo and who is standing next to them, well, that says it all." He also said he had met briefly with Rubio at the ministerial and that they "had a fairly good conversation."
The two-day ministerial is a precursor to a summit of the group's leaders, set to be held at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami in December. CNN reported the ministerial is expected to end with a statement from the chair rather than a joint statement, suggesting awareness that the 20 countries would not be able to reach consensus on key details. Moscow's ongoing war against Ukraine — and a potential U.S. return to war on Iran — has loomed large over the gathering.
Related: Polish Foreign Minister Calls for Rapid Black Sea Ceasefire to Let Grain Shipments Move
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：俄罗斯外交部长 Sergei Lavrov（右）与国防部长 Andrei Belousov（左），2026 年 2 月摄于莫斯科。俄罗斯总统网站，CC BY 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (right) with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (left), Moscow, February 2026. Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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