In brief

• The traditional group photo at the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta was cancelled before the first session.
• US officials said Rubio dropped it to avoid a spectacle or distraction, while officials told CNN and The Guardian that European and other delegations had threatened to walk out.
• German and Polish ministers said they did not want to be pictured with Lavrov.
• The talks continue through October 31 ahead of a December leaders' summit in Miami.

Photo called off before the first session

Two officials told the BBC that the family photo, planned for Friday morning, was called off before the meeting started (G20 'family photo' cancelled after protests over presence of Russian minister – BBC News). Rubio, the host of the talks, chose to drop the picture, US officials said, because Washington wanted to avoid turning it into a spectacle or a distraction (European diplomats shun Russia at G20 gathering in the US – DW) (U.S. scraps G20’s opening photo after Europeans balk at posing with Russia’s Lavrov – Fortune).

Europeans threatened to walk out

Two Western officials told CNN that more than a third of the attending officials had signaled they would leave the room rather than pose beside the Russian foreign minister (G20 photo scrapped amid tensions over Russian foreign minister’s presence – CNN). The Guardian said Australia and Britain were among the states that signaled they would boycott the photo or leave it (US cancels G20 ‘family photo’ after Australia, UK and others refuse to appear with Russia – The Guardian). Before the decision, the US had explored two photos, one with Lavrov and one without him.

Poland's foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said he was not alone in wanting to avoid a picture with Lavrov and described the host's decision as the correct one (Poland’s Sikorski among G20 FMs rejecting photo op with Russia's Lavrov – TVP World).

Berlin: no normal relations with Moscow

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters that European partners would not appear in a photo with Lavrov because there is no normalcy with Russia. Lavrov is under US sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine.

Talks go ahead

Rubio opened the session with an appeal for unity on security and trade threats. The two-day gathering runs through October 31 and is meant to prepare the ground for a G20 leaders' summit in December, which Trump will host at his golf club in Miami. Ukraine was not invited to this meeting, although it has attended similar G20 gatherings in recent years.

Fortune reported that the cancelled photo added to doubts about whether G20 diplomats can reach consensus on the Russia-Ukraine war, the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, US tariffs and China's activity in the South China Sea.