Rubio Urges G20 Unity, Divisions Mount

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta on Friday with an appeal for unity against mounting threats to the global economic order, even as a scrapped group photograph and a threatened walkout by European diplomats exposed the divisions hanging over the two-day gathering.

Rubio urged ministers to confront risks that include wars, insecure shipping routes, energy shocks and vulnerable supply chains. "We must work together to confront threats to economic order," Rubio said, according to a person familiar with the matter. The message was a call for cooperation, not an announcement of an agreed response.

US officials said plans for the photograph were dropped after European diplomats objected to appearing alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and threatened to walk out. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on 10/28 that Lavrov would lead Moscow's delegation and use the meeting to promote Russian ideas on strengthening the foundations of a multipolar world. No separate meeting between Lavrov and Rubio had been announced ahead of the gathering.

The friction follows a September precedent. European finance ministers and central bankers refused to pose with Russian officials at a G20 meeting after Washington invited Moscow back, marking Russia's first in-person G20 appearance since 2022. As holder of the G20 presidency, the US set the guest list. It excluded South Africa, which hosted the group in 2025, and Spain was absent.

Rubio said on 10/21 that he expected Russia to attend as a G20 member and that President Vladimir Putin could come to the leaders' summit in Miami, though Washington had no confirmation. That summit is scheduled for 12/14 and 12/15.

Russia's attacks on Ukraine remain a major obstacle to consensus, and disagreements over Iran and trade policy further complicate efforts to produce a joint statement. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul planned to use the meeting to press for an end to the war. A diplomatic source said the G20 is no longer reliably a forum where foreign ministers can agree on a communique, suggesting any outcome will likely be limited to bilateral discussions or initiatives backed by subsets of members. Former State Department chief economist Heidi Crebo-Rediker told Reuters the divisions are unusually deep, noting that G7 countries once agreed a common position before G20 meetings, a foundation that has weakened. Some G20 trade ministers recently signed a US-led statement on excess industrial capacity after broader agreement proved impossible.

Washington is pursuing narrower avenues. Reuters reported that Rubio's Pax Silica initiative aims to unite countries concerned about China's dominance in rare earths and other strategic minerals. The State Department launched Pax Silica in 12/2025 to secure technology supply chains, from critical minerals to semiconductors, and Rubio said in June that it had 14 members. India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is attending, and Quad foreign ministers are set to meet on the sidelines.

The State Department said ministers will address threats to freedom of navigation, energy and food security, and supply chains. Washington wants sea lanes kept open to commerce "without threats or tolls." Energy and inflation risks are front and center, with the wars in Iran and Ukraine, rising fuel costs and the potential for further Middle East escalation among the main concerns. Fuel prices are also a sensitive domestic issue ahead of the 11/3 midterm elections, and US tariffs, trade imbalances and excess industrial capacity remain sources of disagreement.

Whether Atlanta produces any joint outcome remains uncertain, and the meeting is meant to lay groundwork for the December summit.