Facts
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened a two-day meeting of G20 foreign ministers, from the Group of 20 major economies, in Atlanta on Friday, October 30, 2026, with an appeal for unity, according to the Associated Press via PBS NewsHour.
- Rubio scrapped the traditional group photo after several European officials threatened to boycott or walk out. The dispute centered on being photographed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Two unnamed U.S. officials told the AP that Rubio judged the controversy would be a distraction.
- A British Foreign Office statement said the United Kingdom ‘has a longstanding policy not to have direct, bilateral engagement with Russian ministers since the invasion of Ukraine’ and would not change it.
- The AP listed the contentious issues as the war in Ukraine, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, U.S. tariffs and China’s actions in the South China Sea, and reported no sign of consensus. Freedom of navigation, including the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the Black Sea and the South China Sea, is a top U.S. priority.
- Ukraine was not invited because U.S. officials chose to include only formal G20 members. South Africa, a founding member, was also left out. South African spokesperson Phindile Kunene said ‘our nonparticipation is not voluntary’ and that South Africa is ready to take part ‘on an equal footing’ when the United Kingdom takes the G20 presidency next year.
- The meeting sets the stage for a December G20 leaders’ summit that Trump will host at his Miami golf club. It is unclear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend, the AP reported.
- The AP also reported that U.S. officials told some Middle Eastern countries to prepare for possible renewed strikes on Iran after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
Quotes
Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, told colleagues: “We are in a critical moment.” He described it as “a moment of choosing” for the U.S. and “for the world.”
Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, called the cancellation “the right decision” and said he was not the only one who did not want to be photographed with Lavrov.
Johann Wadephul, Germany’s foreign minister, said: “there is no normality with Russia,” but that disputes should be aired at the table.
Source Read the Associated Press report on PBS NewsHour here.
Image No photo for this story.
