“Atlanta — The G20 foreign ministers meeting kicked off in Atlanta on Friday without a “family photo” after numerous representatives were expected to walk out rather than be pictured alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Two Western officials told CNN more than a third of attending officials had threatened to walk out of a picture”, — write on: www.cnn.com
Atlanta —
The G20 foreign ministers meeting kicked off in Atlanta on Friday without a “family photo” after numerous representatives were expected to walk out rather than be pictured alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Two Western officials told CNN more than a third of attending officials had threatened to walk out of a picture with the Russian foreign minister.
According to three sources, the US had explored doing two family photos – one with Lavrov and one without. Ultimately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to scrap the photo – which is a traditional element of most high-level gatherings – altogether, two of the sources said.
A US official said Rubio made the decision because he thought the drama around photo would become a distraction and a spectacle that would overshadow the gathering.
“The photo was canceled after it became clear that some of the delegations were unwilling to participate in a joint photo,” another US official said.
“Rather than allow a ceremonial photo opportunity to become a diplomatic distraction, the United States decided to forgo the photo and keep the focus on the substantive discussions and shared priorities of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,” they added.
At a press conference in Atlanta later Friday, 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.”
Lavrov also said he had met briefly with Rubio at the ministerial and they “had a fairly good conversation.”