Where's Joe? G20 leaders take group photo without Biden

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Joe Biden headed for a photo with fellow G20 leaders in Rio de Janeiro at his final summit as US president on Monday – only to find they had already taken the picture without him.

World leaders pose for a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
World leaders pose for a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  © REUTERS

Frustrated US officials blamed "logistical issues" for the blunder, which meant that Biden missed out on the shot, along with the Canadian and Italian prime ministers.

It came during a South American tour in which Biden's counterparts have been looking past the outgoing US president in political terms – and towards his successor Donald Trump.

Biden's swan song on the world stage has seen the 81-year-old try to shore up his legacy before Trump returns to the White House with his "America First" foreign policy.

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World leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and French President Emmanuel Macron walked down a red carpeted ramp at Rio's stunning bayside museum of modern art to the group photo set-up.

They took to a stage, chatted and joked as they gathered to pose against the backdrop of the Brazilian city's iconic Sugarloaf Mountain. The snap was over in a second.

Biden, Trudeau, and Meloni miss out on G20 group photo

US President Joe Biden, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau depart after they were late to join for a group photo at the G20 summit.
US President Joe Biden, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau depart after they were late to join for a group photo at the G20 summit.  © REUTERS

Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau then came in from another direction, after a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit – but it was too late and the other leaders had already dispersed.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also missed the picture. She, Biden, and Trudeau formed a separate huddle.

"Due to logistical issues, they took the photo early before all the leaders had arrived. So a number of the leaders weren't actually there," a US official said on condition of anonymity.

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US officials denied that Biden missed the photo – officially for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's launch of an alliance to curb world hunger – to avoid appearing alongside Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Biden had earlier urged the G20 leaders to support Ukraine's "sovereignty" in the face of Russia's 2022 invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was conspicuously absent from the Rio summit. His arrest is sought by the International Criminal Court over the Ukraine war.

Cover photo: Collage: REUTERS & Eric Lee/Pool via REUTERS

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