Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in Atlanta on Friday for the G20 meeting of Foreign Ministers, after a flight that reportely took 20 hours, given his plane had to avoid traversing airspace of unfriendly countries which have sanctions on Russia, including its aviation.
The G20 Atlanta meeting is set to run through Saturday, in anticipation of the later final G20 leaders' summit in Miami, scheduled for December 14-15.
Russian MFAPresident Putin has reportedly been issued an invitation to attend the Miami G20 by the Trump White House, but the Kremlin has not yet indicated whether he will actually be there.
Of course, the European delegations are strongly objecting to Lavrov's presence, and already Friday there are reports the traditional opening 'family photo' has been scrapped.
According to The Associated Press:
The cancellation of the photograph, a traditional opening event at such a diplomatic gathering, underscored the deep rifts in the G20 over global crises that threaten international security and trade.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to cancel the photo after determining that the controversy would be a distraction, according to two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The meeting in Atlanta, which will otherwise go ahead as planned, is meant to set
