G20 foreign ministers scrap ‘family photo’ as Lavrov crashes party

The U.S. hosts of the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting opted to skip the traditional “family photo” Friday after several top diplomats objected to being photographed with a Russian official. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s presence at the two-day event in Atlanta raised tensions within the group because of his country’s ongoing military offensive in Ukraine, which has waged on for almost five years.

A U.S. official confirmed to The Hill that event hosts opted to skip the ceremonial photo after it became apparent some diplomats were unwilling to participate. The official said the move served to avoid a potential diplomatic distraction and keep the focus trained on the meeting’s priorities. 

“There is no ‘business as usual’ with Russia,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters in Atlanta, according to Bloomberg. “We need to discuss these controversies here at the table, which........

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