President Biden was not pictured among other world leaders in the traditional “family photo” at the final Group of 20 summit of his presidency on Monday.
Biden arrived along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after photographers had already finished with the other smiling leaders, who had been positioned on a riser. A senior Biden official said the president did not participate because of “logistical issues.”
“Due to logistical issues, they took the family photo early before all the leaders had arrived. So a number of leaders weren’t actually there when they took the photo,” the official said.
The official emphasized Biden missed the photo because of bad timing, not because he wanted to avoid taking a picture with some of the U.S.’ top rivals, including Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov or Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Biden’s absence left Xi front and center among the rows of leaders poised against blue skies and blue water in Rio de Janeiro.
Lavrov stood in the back row, less visible.