There was no photo finish against President Joe Biden.
The outgoing American leader arrived for a family photo with world leaders during the final G20 summit on Monday, only to discover the photo had already been taken without him. .
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were among those in attendance, smiling and holding hands in the traditional summit set-piece.
A senior US official said the chaos in Rio de Janeiro was caused by logistical problems.
“Due to logistical issues, they took the family photo early before all the leaders arrived. So many of the leaders weren’t actually there when the photo was taken.” said a senior official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Biden was nowhere to be found until photographers and reporters began a frantic search shortly after the photo was taken.
A photographer spotted him in the shade of a nearby palm tree, alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Prime Minister Trudeau and Prime Minister Meloni also missed their photo.
Asked whether the photo was intentionally released to avoid Mr. Biden standing near Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the official said, “It was simply a logistical issue.” I denied the idea.
During the first session of the summit on Sunday, Biden reflected on his impending departure from the White House.
“As you know, this is my last G20 summit. We have moved forward together and I encourage you to continue to move forward, whether I encourage you to do so or not. , I’m sure you will too,” he told his fellow leaders.
A senior aide acknowledged Monday that many countries are already looking to President-elect Donald Trump’s very different global leadership, but stressed that Biden remains in full command.
“Fundamentally, our system is predicated on one president at a time,” said Deputy National Security Adviser John Feiner. “President Biden is just that president, and we’re going to transfer power in January, and it’s up to the new administration to decide what to do with it.”
On Sunday, Biden himself acknowledged that his remaining term in office is limited.
“It’s no secret that I will be stepping down in January,” he said. “If they do, I will leave my successors and my country a solid foundation to build upon.”
The G20 summit brings together heads of state or government from the 19 member states and two regional organizations: the African Union and the European Union.
According to the forum, member countries account for about 85% of the world’s gross domestic product, more than 75% of world trade and about two-thirds of the world’s population.
The G20 was established in 1999 in response to the Asian financial crisis and initially served as a forum for finance ministers and central bank officials to discuss economic stability.
Since then, it has evolved into a high-level meeting of heads of state and government.
