There was no photo finish for President Joe Biden.
The outgoing US leader arrived Monday for a family photo with world leaders at his latest Group of 20 summit, only to discover the photo had already been taken without him.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were among those who made it, smiling and raising linked hands in front of the summit’s traditional backdrop.
A senior US official attributed the confusion in Rio de Janeiro to logistical problems.
“Due to logistical problems, they took the family photo earlier before all the leaders had arrived. So some of the leaders were not actually there when they took the photo,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Biden was nowhere to be found until shortly after the photo was taken, when photographers and reporters began frantically searching for him.
A cameraman spotted him behind a nearby palm tree next to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Trudeau and Meloni also missed the photo.
Asked whether Biden deliberately skipped the photo to avoid being close to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the official dismissed the idea, saying: “It was just logistical problems.”
Biden with world leaders at the G20 summit in Rio de Janiero on Monday.
During the first session of the summit Sunday, Biden reflected on his upcoming departure from the White House.
‘As you know, this is my last G20 summit. We have made progress together, but I urge you to continue – and I am sure you will do so regardless of my insistence or not,” he told his fellow leaders.
On Monday, a senior aide acknowledged that many countries were already anticipating newly-elected President Donald Trump’s very different global leadership, but emphasized that Biden remains fully in charge.
“We essentially have a system based on one president at a time,” said Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser. “President Biden is that president, he will hand over power in January, and it will be up to a new administration to decide what to do with it.”
On Sunday, Biden himself acknowledged the limited time he had left in office.
“It is no secret that I will be leaving office in January,” he said. “I will leave my successor and my country a strong foundation to build on, if they choose.”
The G20 summit involves the heads of state and government of 19 member states and two regional bodies: the African Union and the European Union.
According to the forum, Member States represent about 85% of the world’s gross domestic product, more than 75% of world trade and about two-thirds of the world’s population.
The G20 was founded in 1999 in response to the Asian financial crisis and initially served as a forum for finance ministers and central bank officials to discuss economic stability.
Since then, it has evolved into a high-level meeting of heads of state and government.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
