G20 Skips Group Portrait Amid Rift Over Lavrov’s Presence
WHO:
Euronews.com - British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Lavrov, “he should have the courage to tell Putin that Russia will not win this war.”
Yahoo - Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said the United States had proposed making Poland a permanent G20 member and that Warsaw was lobbying for membership.
Yahoo - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Poland did not qualify to attend because its economy was not large enough.
DW.com - German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said there was “no normalcy with Russia.”
DW.com - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ministers directly challenged Sergey Lavrov over what she called his “lies” and “false narratives.”
DW.com - British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said, “If we are serious about our values and our interests, we must also work harder to secure just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
DW.com - South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola’s spokesperson, Phindile Kunene, said South Africa’s “nonparticipation is not voluntary.”
DW.com - Lavrov told DW that President Vladimir Putin would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Moscow if Zelenskyy traveled there, adding, “We will guarantee his safety.”
DW.com - Lavrov said, “in practice, no real progress in relations with the US has so far been seen.”
Al Jazeera - German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, “There will be no family photo featuring our European partners together with Mr Lavrov.”
Al Jazeera - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended the meeting; Russia’s state media reported that he arrived in Atlanta ahead of the talks.
Al Jazeera - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for cooperation on economic and geopolitical crises.
Al Jazeera - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she would urge G20 partners to strengthen support for Ukraine and pursue accountability.
Al Jazeera - China sent Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu instead of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a U.S. Department of State delegation list.
Al Jazeera - Burundi’s Edouard Bizimana represented the African Union. South Africa, a founding G20 member, was excluded by Washington.
IJR - Ex-ambassador Ian Kelly called Lavrov’s invitation “politically boneheaded.”
ABC News US - Top diplomats from G20 member countries, including China and Russia, were preparing to meet.
WHAT:
Euronews.com - The U.S. State Department approved a package of 500 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors for Ukraine, valued at $2.1 billion.
Euronews.com - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the Patriot package but warned deliveries might begin only in a few years; he said the interceptors could provide an effective defense “this winter” if delivered sooner.
Euronews.com - Lavrov called Europe’s response an “arrogant boycott” and said the U.S. approach to dialogue was “a good lesson for our European colleagues.”
Euronews.com - Miliband confronted Lavrov over a Dnipro railway attack and described Russia as the “aggressor.”
Yahoo - Lavrov said inviting Poland to G20 meetings was “counter-productive,” violated diplomatic practice based on consensus, and that Poland “adds nothing” to the meeting.
Yahoo - Lavrov said labeling Poland a representative of “eastern Europe” was erroneous because NATO and the European Union were already sufficiently represented.
Yahoo - Sikorski called for a rapid Black Sea ceasefire that would allow safe passage for grain shipments from both Ukraine and Russia.
DW.com - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio scrapped the photo before the meeting began because Washington did not want it to become a spectacle or distraction.
DW.com - Rubio described the gathering as a “critical moment” and said the group faced “a series of interconnected economic and geopolitical crises” and “severe threats to essential foundations of the global economic order.”
DW.com - Wadephul pledged to call on Russia to accept Ukraine’s offer of a ceasefire beginning in the Black Sea.
DW.com - Russia had stepped up drone attacks on Ukrainian water and energy infrastructure.
DW.com - Putin had not attended a G20 leaders’ meeting in person since 2019 and participated virtually in 2023.
DW.com - The United States invited President Putin to the G20 leaders’ meeting in Miami; Russia had not said whether he would attend.
DW.com - Lavrov said Russia was willing to host talks with Zelenskyy in Moscow.
DW.com - Lavrov declined to comment on Russia’s participation in the G20 summit.
DW.com - The Trump administration imposed visa restrictions on South Africans it said were complicit in discriminating against white people.
Al Jazeera - The United States scrapped the traditional foreign ministers’ group photo after European officials refused to be pictured with Lavrov.
IJR - The planned photo was scrapped in Atlanta following European diplomats’ objection to appearing alongside Lavrov.
IJR - Rubio urged G20 members to cooperate on threats to global trade, energy and food supplies, supply chains, and freedom of navigation.
Al Jazeera - No joint statement was expected; a diplomatic source said Washington would publish a chair’s summary it had drafted. The source said, “The G20 is no longer really a forum where foreign ministers can reach agreement on a statement.”
Al Jazeera - No government had said whether Rubio and Lavrov would hold a formal bilateral meeting.
Al Jazeera - Ukraine was not invited, according to The National.
Al Jazeera - A Russian strike on a Ukrainian railway station killed at least 14 people.
Al Jazeera - Russia said Lavrov would use his speech to argue against international sanctions. He remained under Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
WHERE:
Al Jazeera - The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting took place in Atlanta, in the southern United States.
Al Jazeera - The Strait of Hormuz was blocked by Iran after U.S.-Israeli strikes began.
WHY:
Bloomberg Markets - EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that Putin’s possible attendance at the G20 leaders’ summit could normalize Russia’s return to international forums while its war in Ukraine continued.
Yahoo - Lavrov said extending invitations to new participants concerned the meeting’s agenda and violated the G20’s consensus-based principles.
DW.com - The meeting was intended as a precursor to the G20 leaders’ summit.
DW.com - U.S. officials said Ukraine was not invited because they chose to invite only formal G20 members.
Al Jazeera - European officials refused to stand for a photo with Lavrov; the dispute reflected divisions within the G20 over Russia and global crises.
Al Jazeera - A diplomatic source said Russia’s presence “in no way legitimises its actions.”
Al Jazeera - Trump issued sanctions waivers allowing Russia to export diesel to ease fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections.
HOW:
Yahoo - Lavrov said the United States invited Poland’s foreign minister, who attended and “sat in the chair that was provided for him.”
DW.com - The meeting’s discussions included freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and Strait of Hormuz.
Al Jazeera - Rubio wrote on X, “Both maritime and food security drive economic security.”
Al Jazeera - Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz after U.S.-Israeli strikes; global energy prices rose sharply afterward.
Al Jazeera - The Atlanta meeting was the final ministerial meeting of the U.S. G20 presidency before leaders’ meeting in Miami on December 14 and 15.
(UPDATED October 31, 2026 21:57 UTC)
G20 diplomats met in Atlanta, as European officials rejected a group photo with Russia’s Lavrov. Washington approved five hundred Patriot interceptors for Ukraine, though deliveries could take years. Poland is lobbying for permanent G20 membership, while Lavrov says its economy doesn’t qualify.
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(UPDATED October 31, 2026 15:59 UTC)
European diplomats refused a group photo with Russia’s Sergey Lavrov at the Atlanta G20 meeting. Secretary of State Marco Rubio scrapped the picture, urging cooperation on global economic and geopolitical crises. Poland lobbied for permanent G20 membership, while Lavrov argued it did not qualify.
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(UPDATED October 31, 2026 14:58 UTC)
G20 ministers met in Atlanta amid sharp divisions over Russia and Ukraine. Washington scrapped the group photo after European officials refused to stand with Lavrov. Rubio urged cooperation on global crises, while Russia offered talks with Ukraine’s president.
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(UPDATED October 31, 2026 12:59 UTC)
G20 diplomats clashed over Russia in Atlanta, as European officials refused a photo with Lavrov. Kaja Kallas said ministers challenged Lavrov’s false narratives, while Rubio urged cooperation on global crises. Ukraine was not invited, and no joint statement was expected from the divided ministers.
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(UPDATED October 31, 2026 02:00 UTC)
European diplomats refused to pose with Sergey Lavrov, prompting the United States to scrap the G20 group photo. In Atlanta, Marco Rubio urged cooperation, while Kaja Kallas pressed for support for Ukraine. Russia’s strike on a Ukrainian railway station killed at least 14 people.