President Biden’s late arrival caused him to miss the initial group photograph in Rio de Janeiro.
President Joe Biden’s tardiness resulted in his absence from the first official G20 leaders’ photograph at the summit in Brazil. He subsequently participated in a second photo opportunity.
Monday’s group photo in Rio de Janeiro excluded Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who arrived after the scheduled time.
“Biden’s lateness prompted the group to proceed without him. A glimpse into our multipolar world!” columnist S. L. Kanthan tweeted, along with the incomplete group photo.
He also observed that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were positioned in the second row, while the leaders of Brazil, India, South Africa, and China occupied the front row.
© Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press via AP
Biden and Trudeau missed Monday’s photo opportunity due to “logistical problems,” according to a senior US official who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s absence remained unexplained.
The second group photograph, taken on Tuesday, featured Biden prominently positioned between Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meloni stood to Trudeau’s right, next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who secured a front-row position in both photographs.
© AP / Silvia Izquierdo
The AP characterized Monday’s incident as “farcical” and suggested it “appeared to symbolize the 81-year-old’s diminishing influence” as the world anticipates Donald Trump’s second presidency.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, representing Moscow at the Rio de Janeiro summit, was present in Monday’s photo but absent from Tuesday’s. He described the summit as “very positive” and noted the West’s failure to advance its “Ukraine agenda” in the final communique.
The G20 agreed to establish a new coordinating body to combat global hunger and poverty, an initiative Russia has joined, Lavrov stated on Tuesday. He highlighted Moscow’s role as a “reliable and leading global supplier” of food and energy. The Russian foreign minister also presented President Vladimir Putin’s Greater Eurasian Partnership initiative to the summit, aiming to connect Europe and Asia while ensuring stability and security.
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