The traditional “family photo” to open the G20 foreign ministers meeting was abruptly canceled in the United States after a large number of countries – including Australia and the United Kingdom – refused to appear alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended the event after several officials from Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia indicated they would boycott or withdraw from the photo that often kicks off these international gatherings.
Rubio nevertheless opened negotiations in Atlanta by calling for unity on issues that threaten international security and trade.
“We are in a critical moment,” Rubio told his colleagues. “We face a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises. »
About a third of the countries participating in the negotiations have indicated that they will not appear alongside Russian representatives.
European Union countries have made it clear that they will boycott any photos with Russians. “Under no circumstances will there be a family photo with the European partners and Mr. Lavrov together because (…) there is no normality with Russia,” warned German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul before Friday’s session.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband promised the same thing. “We do not engage in this way with the Russians, and have not for several years,” he said.
In 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 US decision to cancel the group photo. “Australia has been clear and consistent: we will not normalize Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“At the G20, we remain focused on the important work ahead of us and responding to the challenges facing the global economy.”
The Atlanta schism is further evidence of the rift caused by the Trump administration’s attempt to reintegrate Russia and its isolated president, Vladimir Putin, into the international community, despite Putin’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
Diplomats at the opening session described it as cordial, but said Russia’s position on Ukraine was inflexible, as was 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 over the objections of others, will likely prevent foreign ministers from producing a joint statement at the end of the meetings on Saturday, participants said.
This did not surprise Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, who was representing his country for the first time as a guest at a G20 meeting.
“We are at war and we have participants in these wars around the table, so it is very difficult to agree on a common line,” he told reporters.
Several participants, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the closed-door talks, said all agreed to try to overcome their differences despite the obstacles and work to make next month’s G20 leaders’ summit, hosted by President Donald Trump, in Florida, a success.
Ukraine, which is not a member of the G20 but had been invited to attend previous meetings, was not invited this year, with U.S. officials saying it was a deliberate choice to include only formal members of the group. Poland, which is not a member, is seeking to formally join 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 not on the invite list. South Africa is embroiled in several bitter conflicts with the Trump administration, and when it chaired the G20 last year, senior U.S. officials, including Trump and Rubio, avoided meetings it hosted.
“We have always maintained that our non-participation was not voluntary,” said Phindile Kunene, spokesperson for South African International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola.
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