RIO DE JANEIRO – World leaders moved on without President Joe Biden. Literally.
The outgoing U.S. president missed a photo with Group of 20 leaders on Monday in Brazil after summit organizers proceeded without him.
Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived at the waterside location just as their fellow world leaders were dispersing. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also missed the photo shoot, in which Chinese President Xi Jinping stood front and center.
The White House said the photograph got taken earlier than planned.
“Due to logistical issues, they took the photo early before all the leaders arrived,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters in Rio de Janeiro.
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The world leaders’ portrait followed a session on hunger and poverty, where the U.S. president pledged $4 billion in new support for developing nations.
Biden is attending his final G20 Summit as president this week in Rio de Janeiro. It’s his second stop on a two-nation trip. Over the weekend, he attended a gathering of Pacific Rim nations in Lima, Peru.
At that summit, photographers captured an image of Biden in the last row, near the far edge of the picture. The White House said that leaders were arranged in that photo alphabetically by nation. Xi was also in the front.
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On Monday, at the group session on hunger and poverty, Biden sat near the center. He was the second leader over from the Brazilian president, whose country is hosting this year’s summit of the world’s largest economies.
The group includes U.S. adversary Russia, whose president, Vladimir Putin, did not attend. He sent his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in his place.
Biden made a point of addressing Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine during brief remarks at the event.
“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should as well,” he said.
Biden also touted U.S. support for Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“We’re going to keep pushing to accelerate a cease-fire deal that ensures Israel’s security and brings hostages home and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and children,” he said.
The U.S. president added: “I ask everyone here to increase their pressure on Hamas, which is currently refusing this deal.”
