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Tensions flared this weekend at a meeting chaired by Secretary of State Marco Rubio of the Group of 20 leading economies. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports from Atlanta.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: There was no joint communiqué or even a family photo. Several foreign ministers did not want to be in a picture with Russia's Sergey Lavrov. So Rubio canceled plans for that, but he says countries did come together around some big themes, including freedom of navigation.
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MARCO RUBIO: Safe passage of vessels in international waters is vital to the livelihood of the world. And we now live in a world where the Iranian regime actively and openly targets commercial vessels.
KELEMEN: He says the U.S. is open to diplomacy with Iran, but he wouldn't rule out a new round of attacks, even as the U.S. military tries to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
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RUBIO: Central Command in the United States has done a phenomenal job of protecting this shipping. And today, the amount of fuel getting through there is comparable with what was coming out before the conflict. But nonetheless, we've had to defend these ships from drones and missiles almost every single night.
KELEMEN: Other G20 countries are worried about the potential for a new escalation in the Middle East. Europeans are also nervous about U.S. sanctions relief to Russia. Germany's foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, is trying to highlight the positive, saying, while they may not agree on tactics, everyone shares the goal of getting Russia to the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine.
JOHANN WADEPHUL: In the substance, we have the same position, not only in Europe, but together also with the United States of America. And for us, Marco Rubio was always a reliable partner.
KELEMEN: Rubio did meet briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who's been making light over the dispute over the family photo and defending Russia's war in Ukraine. Russia has long blamed the West for provoking Moscow. Poland's foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, has heard it all before.
RADEK SIKORSKI: Sergey Lavrov's repeated diatribes against Europe suggests to me that they've realized that Europe has cards.
KELEMEN: Europe, he says, has Russia's frozen assets, and it's buying weapons from the U.S. for Ukraine. Poland is lobbying to become a member of the G20 over Russia's objections. Sikorski says he used his time here to push for a ceasefire in the Black Sea.
SIKORSKI: So that both Ukrainian and Russian grain could make it through the Bosphorus to the people who need it in Egypt and elsewhere.
KELEMEN: Secretary Rubio says he wouldn't place bets on whether such a ceasefire is possible, but he says there was a lot of interest around the table to do that. He also defended the decision to host Lavrov in Atlanta and to invite Russian president Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Florida, though it's not clear Putin will come.
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RUBIO: We have to be able to talk to the Russian side, and one of the ways to do that is to invite him to forums like this, where they're not just hearing from us, but potentially hearing from other countries that are there as well.
KELEMEN: Secretary Rubio also met briefly with his counterpart from Brazil, breaking the ice after right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro lost the elections and fled to the U.S. Rubio says President Trump made the decision to allow Bolsonaro into the country, but the U.S. government did not facilitate the travel.
Michele Kelemen, NPR News, Atlanta. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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