The first time G20 leaders took their photo together at a summit in Rio, they forgot Joe Biden. On Tuesday, they had a reshoot – with the outgoing US president firmly back in the frame.
Biden; the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau; and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni all missed the photo on Monday due to what US officials called “logistical issues”.
No one was taking any chances the second time around.
This time, Biden, attending his final G20 summit before Donald Trump’s return to the White House on 20 January, was given a spot near the middle of the front row of the assembled world leaders.
The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, grabbed Biden’s hand as the US leader stepped onto the stage. Trudeau, who was next to him, chatted with Biden and pointed at him at one moment.
Chinese president Xi Jinping entered the cavernous room at a Rio art museum where the leaders were gathered just over a minute later and took his place.
When it was all over, the leaders clapped and held hands.
The fulsome show of unity could not have contrasted more starkly with the farcical scenes when Biden missed out on the photo a day earlier.
Biden had been spotted walking through some palm trees towards the photo op at the Brazilian city’s stunning bayside on Monday – but the other leaders had already been dispersing after the picture was snapped.
His no-show had seemed to symbolize the 81-year-old’s waning influence as the world looked towards a second Trump presidency following the Republican’s sweeping US election win.
Throughout a six-day swing through South America, Biden has been making a last pitch for global support on issues from Ukraine and the Middle East to the climate crisis.
But his counterparts have often seemed to have their eyes on January, with Xi saying after meeting Biden in Lima last week that he would work for a “smooth transition” with Trump.
Biden has also kept a low media profile and has not taken questions from the media during his trip, despite major developments such as his granting of approval for Ukraine to use long-range US-made missiles to hit Russia.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov – attending in place of Vladimir Putin, who faces an international criminal court warrant over the war in Ukraine – was in the photo on Monday but not on Tuesday.
