Why Penny Wong wouldn't pose with Russia at the G20, and what it means if Putin turns up in Miami in December

By The Rundowns News Desk · Published 1 November 2026

A group photo is usually the least newsworthy part of a summit. Not this time. At the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta on Friday (US time), the American hosts cancelled the traditional "family photo" after about a third of delegations, Australia among them, made clear they wouldn't stand next to Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. It's a small moment that points to a much bigger one: Washington has invited Vladimir Putin to the G20 leaders' summit in Miami on 14–15 December, and Anthony Albanese is expected to be there too.

What happened in Atlanta

• The photo was dropped. It had been scheduled for 10am Friday, Atlanta time, but was taken off the agenda by the State Department (SMH, ABC).
• Who objected: European delegations, the UK, Canada and Australia all signalled they would boycott or walk out of a photo with Lavrov (Guardian, AP, BBC). Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said beforehand there would be "in no case" a family photo with European partners and Lavrov together "because there is no normalcy with Russia" (SMH).
• The US explanation: a US official told the BBC the photo was cancelled "after it became clear some of the delegations were unwilling to participate", and that Washington didn't want "a ceremonial photo opportunity to become a diplomatic distraction".
• Inside the room: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio still opened the talks with a call for unity, telling ministers "we are in a critical moment" (Guardian, AP). The UK's foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, addressed Lavrov directly: "We all know who the aggressor in this war is" (BBC).

Why Australia said no

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia supported the US decision as host to cancel the photograph. "Australia has been clear and consistent: we will not normalise Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine," the statement said. "Our focus at the G20 remains on the important work before us and addressing the challenges facing the global economy" (ABC).

According to the SMH, Wong also spoke in Friday's opening session, in front of Lavrov, about the brutality of the invasion and its contribution to food insecurity and pressure on global markets. She held a bilateral meeting with Germany's Wadephul, who praised the Australia–EU free trade deal that Labor is trying to ratify (SMH only).

This isn't new ground for Canberra. Australia has sanctioned Russia and supported Ukraine since the 2022 invasion, and Smartraveller still tells Australians not to travel to Russia at all, warning that foreigners face a risk of arbitrary detention.

Why a photo matters

The photo itself has no legal or policy weight. As the Irish Times put it, it's a ritual meant to display unity. Refusing it is a public way of showing that the US and many of its allies now disagree on how to treat Moscow. The Trump administration has been drawing Russia back into international forums as it pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine. Many European governments, and Australia, see that as normalising the invasion.

It has happened before this year. At the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, in September, US allies including Germany refused to be photographed with Russia's finance minister, Anton Siluanov, who ended up being left out of the picture (Irish Times).

The bigger test: Putin and the Miami summit

• The invitation: Rubio announced in September that the US had invited Putin to the leaders' summit, saying "We hope that's an invitation he'll accept" (Guardian). Putin hasn't attended a G20 leaders' summit in person since Osaka in 2019.
• When and where: 14–15 December at the Trump National Doral resort near Miami (ABC, TASS). That's 15–16 December in eastern Australia.
• Is he coming? Unconfirmed. The Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on 18 and 27 October that no decision had been made (TASS, RIA Novosti). On 1 November the ABC noted European media reports that Putin will accept, and News24 said it "understands" he will travel. Neither has been confirmed by Moscow, so treat it as a report, not a fact.
• Albanese: the Prime Minister is expected to attend, according to the ABC and News24.

If Putin does go, leaders like Albanese face the same dilemma Wong did, but at a much higher profile: how to sit at the same table without appearing to endorse the war. A cancelled foreign ministers' photo is easy to brush off. A leaders' line-up with Putin in it would be the first since the invasion.

Also this weekend: the Moscow attack warning

Separately, the US Embassy in Moscow warned on Saturday (local time) of "a credible threat of a mass casualty event" at the Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve, a palace and park complex in southern Moscow, and said it was coordinating with Russian authorities. Russia's FSB security service confirmed it had received the information through partner channels and said "appropriate" work was under way. Russian state media reported the park was temporarily closed (Reuters via Straits Times, ABC). The US gave no details about who was behind the alleged plot, and no attack had been reported when we published. In March 2024, a similar US warning came days before the Crocus City Hall attack outside Moscow, which killed more than 140 people (Reuters).

Why it matters for Australia

• Alliance strain, in public. Australia is siding openly with Europe, the UK and Canada against its main ally's approach to Russia. That's a careful line for a government that also wants the US on side over trade, defence and Iran (see our Iran and petrol prices explainer).
• Economic stakes. The G20 is where Australia gets a seat with the world's biggest economies. Wong's statement framed Australia's focus there as "the challenges facing the global economy", and the war has fed into food and energy prices.
• A busy month for the PM. Albanese is at CHOGM in Antigua this week, and the US midterms land on Wednesday, Australian time. Miami follows in mid-December.

What's next

• Before 14 December: whether the Kremlin confirms Putin's attendance, and whether Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is invited. He has attended recent G20s as a guest, but Ukraine was not invited to the Atlanta meeting (BBC).
• Australia's position: whether Albanese commits to attending if Putin does, and how Canberra handles any leaders' photo.
• Moscow: any further detail from US or Russian authorities on the Tsaritsyno threat.

We'll update this explainer when the Kremlin confirms or rules out Putin's trip.

How we reported this: the cancellation, the countries that objected and Rubio's opening remarks are confirmed by the ABC, the Guardian, AP, the BBC, the SMH and the Irish Times. Wong's statement is quoted from the ABC and matches News24's version. The details of Wong's speech and her meeting with Wadephul come from the SMH alone. Reports that Putin will attend are single-source and unconfirmed by the Kremlin, whose last on-record position (27 October) was that no decision had been made. The Moscow threat is confirmed by Reuters, RIA Novosti, Meduza and the ABC. Travel advice is taken directly from Smartraveller as of 1 November 2026. No news-agency photos are used.