RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — President Joe Biden inadvertently was a missing man in the traditional photo of world leaders at the final Group of 20 summit of his presidency Monday, a photo-shoot fail that U.S. officials attributed to timing.
Instead, Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strolled up after photographers had already taken the official picture, as other world leaders milled about chatting after having smiled and raised linked hands for the photo.
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U.S. President Joe Biden arrives late for the group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Backdropped by Sugar Loaf mountain, China's President Xi Jinping, center, walks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden, top left, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from top left, and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrive late for the group photo at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Leaders attending the G20 Summit pose for a group photo in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
China's President Xi Jinping talks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Backdropped by Sugar Loaf mountain, leaders attending the G20 Summit pose for a group photo in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, arrive late for a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
The timing left Chinese President Xi Jinping front and center among the rows of leaders posed against blue skies and blue water in Rio de Janeiro.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stood, less visible, in a back row.
A senior Biden administration official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said Biden and other leaders missed the photo because of “logistical issues.” Biden had intended to be part of the photo, but it occurred earlier than scheduled.
Biden and Trudeau arrived together at the designated spot for the photo, standing and looking about for a time. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also did not join in the group photo, a set piece of such summits.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives late for the group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Backdropped by Sugar Loaf mountain, China's President Xi Jinping, center, walks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden, top left, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, second from top left, and Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrive late for the group photo at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Leaders attending the G20 Summit pose for a group photo in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
China's President Xi Jinping talks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Backdropped by Sugar Loaf mountain, leaders attending the G20 Summit pose for a group photo in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, arrive late for a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid and apparently snubbing U.S.-led peace efforts as the war approaches the four-year mark.
Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.
One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said. The daytime temperature in the capital was -12 C (around 10 F). The streets were covered with ice, and the city rumbled with the noise from generators.
Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.
On Monday, the United States accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting, when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.
Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in the freezing winter months over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
In Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Russian attack also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.
In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid, to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.
Ukraine’s military said domestically-produced drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant carries out design, manufacturing and testing of Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.
It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.
Katie Marie Davies contributed to this report from Manchester, England.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
