The Russian foreign minister received a warm welcome on Thursday when he arrived at the rally in Bali, Indonesia, on his first major trip abroad since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Responding to reports that G20 foreign ministers had decided to scrap the traditional family photo because they did not want to be seen standing next to him, Mr Lavrov on Friday played down the animosity. “As for the reports that no one was going to take a picture with me or meet me – I didn’t ask anyone to take a picture with me,” he told Russian state television. The boycott was initiated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
