Atlanta, October 31, 2026 – The Europe Today: The participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in the United States has drawn objections from European diplomats, several of whom reportedly threatened to boycott the customary group photograph. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul objected to being photographed alongside Lavrov, though the two ultimately appeared in the same frame.
Lavrov arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday for the two-day gathering, which precedes the G20 leaders’ summit scheduled for mid-December in Florida. US President Donald Trump has expressed hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the summit, although, according to the Kremlin, Moscow has yet to decide whether to accept the invitation.
Lavrov’s presence at the ministerial meeting has proved particularly contentious for several European delegations, which have opposed Washington’s decision to invite Russian officials.
“There will be no family photo featuring our European partners together with Mr. Lavrov,” Wadephul told reporters, adding that “we must avoid sending the wrong visual signals.”
According to several media outlets, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio eventually cancelled the traditional group photograph after European foreign ministers reportedly refused to stand alongside Lavrov and threatened to walk out.
The German minister was nevertheless captured in the same frame as his Russian counterpart. A photograph of the G20’s first plenary session, published on Friday on X by DW correspondent Benjamin Alvarez, showed Wadephul glancing sideways towards Lavrov.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the image in a Telegram post, suggesting that Western journalists had disregarded the German diplomat’s objections by photographing the two ministers together. She also noted that Wadephul had himself requested a last-minute meeting with Lavrov on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly a month earlier.
That encounter was the first between the two ministers since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Lavrov later described the discussion as disappointing, stating that his German counterpart had merely restated Berlin’s established positions, which he characterised as anti-Russian.
The dispute in Atlanta follows earlier European objections to Washington’s decision to restore Russian participation in G20 gatherings. When Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended G20 talks in late August, becoming the first Russian finance minister to do so since 2022, President Trump defended his administration’s approach.
“We like getting along with everybody. One of the reasons I’m so successful, I get along with everybody,” the US President said at the time.
Lavrov last attended a G20 ministerial meeting in September 2025 on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly in New York. Despite Western efforts to isolate Moscow diplomatically, he has maintained an active international schedule, including official visits to countries across Africa and Asia.
The latest gathering also comes ahead of a fourth round of US-mediated trilateral negotiations involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, expected next month. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that European representatives would not be included in the talks, despite their efforts to secure a place at the negotiating table.
