The US has cancelled the usual group photo of the foreign ministers of the G20 after Britain, Australia and other nations refused to be seen standing with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov at a G20 meeting in Atlanta.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to call off the photo shoot on Friday after some of the European representatives threatened to leave or boycott the event, The Associated Press reported.
A third of the group, including Australia and Canada, disagreed with being snapped with Lavrov, a Western diplomat told Reuters.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said there could be no joint photograph with European representatives and Lavrov, adding that “there is no normality with Russia”.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband also promised that his country would not interact with the Russian officials in such a fashion.
The row underscores lingering splits over Russia’s war in Ukraine and ahead of a G20 leaders’ summit of US President Donald Trump’s administration in Florida in December.
Rubio kicked off the session by appealing for unity, stating: “We are at a critical juncture. We are facing a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises.”
