Representatives of the G20 nations gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, this week for two days of preliminary meetings to set the stage for the formal summit scheduled in Miami, Florida, in December.

Normally a very civilized, business-first proceeding with a set format, this one was thrown somewhat off-kilter by the presence of an invited, yet not generally welcome, participant: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The person extending the invitation was, of course, Donald Trump, who did so against the express wishes of numerous members. He has also invited Vladimir Putin to attend the summit in December, though it is not yet clear whether Putin will accept.

But the mere issuance of the invitation has raised the hackles of more than a few national leaders. To begin with, the usual “family photo” of the entire group, traditionally taken at the start of the meeting, had to be cancelled by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio when about a third of the attendees refused to be photographed with the Russian representative.

And Lavrov didn’t help matters when he commented:

“If what matters most to them is how they look in the family photo and who is standing next to them, well, that says it all.” [CNN, October 31, 2026.]

His further statements during the meeting included an objection to Poland’s having been invited as a full participant, saying that they “contributed nothing” to the G20, and that the EU and NATO were already well represented. [TVP World, October 31, 2026.]

And as to the Ukraine peace talks, he reiterated that Russia’s positions have not changed (big surprise!), and criticized the West’s continued support of the nation against whom his country waged the war four and a half years ago.

But his arrogance did not go unanswered. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband had obviously had quite enough when he addressed Lavrov directly:

“Let me say this directly to the Russian foreign minister — we all know who the aggressor in this war is. Let’s talk about what happened at Dnipro railway yesterday. Only yesterday your drones attacked and killed 15 people.

“And there are countless examples like this of you killing innocent civilians throughout this war. We all know you are the aggressor. We all know you started this war four-and-a-half years ago with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“And Putin thought then he would win this war easily. But you are not winning this war. Thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian people and the solidarity of countries round this table, you are not winning.

“If you had the courage to tell the truth and to do what is right, you would tell Putin that he is not winning this war and will not win.” [Sky News, October 31, 2026.]

Whatever else was accomplished during those two days in Atlanta, one thing is for certain: Vladimir Putin was given something to think about before he makes his final decision about coming to Miami next month.

And Donald Trump might also want to give some consideration to withdrawing that invitation, which puts him in a rather — to say the least — awkward position.

Personally, I couldn’t be more tickled.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/1/26