G20 ‘family photo’ scrapped because leaders don’t want to be pictured with Russians

Putin’s stand-in Sergei Lavrov expected to face hail of condemnation over war in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin is staying away from the summit in Indonesia (AP)

Plans for a “family photo” of world leaders at the G20 summit in Indonesia next week have been scrapped because presidents and prime ministers were unwilling to stand alongside an envoy of Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

For the first time at a gathering of the world’s 20 biggest economies, there will be no picture of the attendees lined up in rows and smiling for the cameras.

The Kremlin announced on Thursday that Mr Putin will not be present for the two-day summit in beach resort Bali, with the Russian delegation led instead by his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.