US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged fellow G20 foreign ministers on Friday to work together for greater geopolitical stability and economic prosperity, warning that a series of crises posed serious threats to the global economic order.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s participation in the two-day gathering in Atlanta – at Rubio’s invitation – has roiled many G20 ministers, aggravating deep rifts over the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East during a meeting that is expected to end without a joint declaration. Such statements require consensus that has been elusive if not impossible since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Russia’s presence sparks diplomatic tensions

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband addressed Lavrov directly during the meeting, telling him: “Only yesterday your drones attacked and killed 15 people. And there are countless examples like this of you killing innocent civilians throughout this war. We all know you are the aggressor.”

Lavrov later told reporters that Moscow’s position on the Ukraine conflict was unchanged, and Russia could not accept Ukraine as a “military threat to the lawful security interests of the Russian Federation,” according to Russian news agencies.

US officials said they skipped a traditional G20 family photo after European officials refused to be photographed with Lavrov. One US official said Washington wanted to avoid a “spectacle” that could overshadow the meeting. A third of members objected, including Australia and Canada, a Western diplomat said.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters a photograph with Lavrov was unacceptable because “there is no normalcy with Russia.” Lavrov himself acknowledged that there had been “concerns” about the family photo, drawing head nods from many in the room, one participant said.

Rubio, saying the world faced interconnected crises that threatened global energy and food supply, trade and the freedom of navigation, urged his counterparts to find areas of agreement during the final ministerial meeting before a leaders summit in Miami, Florida, from December 14 to 16.

“We are tasked, on behalf of the nations that we serve, to work together … to coordinate responses to emerging crises and to protect our shared interests,” he said. “We can help set the context for expanded geopolitical stability and the broader economic prosperity agenda that our leaders will tackle.”

Global economic crises add to pressure

Two Western officials said G20 members were in broad agreement about the severity of the economic challenges facing nearly every country as a result of the war in the Middle East. Many participants worried that renewed US strikes on Iran would send oil prices sharply higher, deepening the pain, they said.

“The possibility for a new military operation in Iran is on everybody’s mind,” said one of the officials, who spoken on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. “Everybody is under deep pressure.”

The foreign ministers’ meeting was expected to end with a chair’s statement, with the bigger effort focused on hammering out a joint declaration that could be signed by G20 leaders at their summit in December, Western officials said. It remains unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the December gathering.

Consensus increasingly out of reach

With G20 members Russia, China and middle powers such as Brazil and India trying to navigate US-China strategic competition, you have “much more of a split than we’ve ever had,” said Heidi Crebo-Rediker, who was chief economist at the State Department during the Obama administration.

Over the past decade or so, G7 countries would at least “have agreed a coordinated platform before they came to the G20, but now we don’t even really have that,” she added.

Critical minerals and Ukraine on the agenda

Ministers are expected to discuss supply chain issues and challenges in procuring the critical minerals needed to produce advanced technologies during their discussion on Saturday.

Rubio has championed the Pax Silica initiative, aimed at uniting G20 countries concerned about China’s dominance in rare earths and other critical minerals.

But any movement on that front will probably come afterwards, experts said, pointing to a US-led statement on excess industrial capacity that some G20 trade ministers signed after the group failed to reach consensus.

Elaine Dezenski of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies said such statements by ad hoc groups could offer a way forward in the current difficult environment.

“The right test is whether the US can build cooperation with partners when all-member consensus appears to be out of reach,” she said. She noted the Quad — a security grouping of the US, India, Japan and Australia — would also meet in Atlanta on Saturday, on the sidelines of the G20 gathering.

US President Donald Trump’s recent decisions on Russia, including a deal to buy diesel and waiving some sanctions, formed a challenging backdrop for the talks, along with Ukraine’s problems with its Starshield satellite services, participants said. Ukraine was not invited to attend.

Washington announced a multibillion-dollar sale of Patriot interceptors late on Friday, offering some good news to Kyiv.

Before the meeting, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she would call for increased support for Ukraine, while pushing for progress on accountability measures through the Special Tribunal and Claims Commission.

“Russia must be accountable,” she wrote on X.

"There will definitely not be a family photo in which our European partners are together with Mr. Lavrov," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, according to the German n-tv channel.

The Russian delegation will use the two-day meeting, held from Oct. 30 to Oct. 31, to "promote Russian ideas, aimed at strengthening the foundations of a multipolar world," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.