A photocall of foreign ministers was cancelled by the US after the UK’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and other European counterparts refused to be pictured with Russia’s envoy Sergei Lavrov.
The traditional group photo was due to take place on Friday morning, at the start of a G20 meeting of top diplomats in Atlanta, Georgia.
But the US secretary of state Marco Rubio reportedly cancelled it as he decided the controversy would be a distraction.
Sergei Lavrov at the meeting. Pic: AP
A third of the participants, including Australia and Canada, made clear they opposed the idea of being photographed alongside Mr Lavrov, Reuters reported, citing a Western diplomat.
Mr Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has been a long-standing ally of President Vladimir Putin.
The incident underlines the ongoing tensions over the Ukraine war, which was triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour back in February 2022.
“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 said before the first session on Friday.
A UK government source said: “We were not going to take part in any official picture with the Russian foreign minister.”
The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta. Pic: AP
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They added: “The foreign secretary is here in Atlanta focused on the global challenges that are driving up costs for people at home.
“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.”
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