Photo shoot fail: World leaders including Joe Biden who missed G20 photo

US President Joe Biden and other world leaders missed a group picture at the G20 in Brazil, sparking speculation one of them was snubbing Russia.

Any picture at a gathering of the world’s most powerful leaders tells countless unspoken words, but co-ordinating a diplomatic group photo often disguises precision planning of those in the frame.

The absence of US President Joe Biden from a group picture at the G20 in Brazil on Monday sparked speculation he was snubbing Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Mr Lavrov, who attended the summit in place of President Vladimir Putin, has few friends at the gathering, where most countries have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “illegal” and “immoral”.

Leaders attending the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty pose for a group photo after the first session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18, 2024. Picture: Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP

But as speculation ran wild, the White House was forced to hose down conspiracy theories by announcing the picture was simply taken earlier than had been scheduled and Mr Biden missed it.

He wasn’t alone, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni all failing to appear in the Global Alliance Against Poverty and Hunger happy snap.

One person very much in frame was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was pictured clasping hands with both Chinese President Xi Jinping and British PM Keir Starmer.

Mr Albanese’s positioning was quite a departure from a group photo taken days earlier at the APEC summit in Peru.

A few excited observers were left looking rather silly when they jumped to the conclusion that the positioning of both Mr Albanese and Mr Biden at the outer edges of the “family photo” meant the two were somehow out of favour on the world stage.

In reality, the representatives of the 21 APEC countries were lined up in alphabetical order – A for Australia at one end, and U for United States of America at the other.

Sometimes, the most simple explanation is the answer.

World leaders participate in a family photo during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Retreat summit in Lima, Peru, November 16, 2024. Picture: SAUL LOEB / AFP

Not so for the photo at the G20 summit – Mr Albanese’s position could hardly be called alphabetical when countries like Argentina and Brazil are in attendance.

Sources said there were markers laid down on the ground indicating where leaders should stand, but chaos ensued when Mr Biden’s absence meant gaps had to be filled.

The scramble is possibly how Mr Albanese ended up near Mr Xi, but it would be foolish to write off the event as totally meaningless.

Earlier in the day Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva moved as if to give Mr Xi a hug upon arrival, but the Chinese leader resisted the interaction.

If Mr Xi didn’t want to be next to Mr Albanese, he wouldn’t have been.

The photo was taken just hours after the pair met for formal talks where the Prime Minister was praised for ushering in a “turnaround” of China-Australia relations.

With the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House, Mr Xi has been on a diplomatic blitz to recruit allies to the pro-trade cause.

As an exporting nation with a long history of supporting fair and open trade, Canberra is an obvious target to woo, though it will take more than a smiling photo for Mr Xi to smooth over the damage done by Beijing’s previous two years of trade blocks on Australian goods.