Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and other European counterparts refused to be pictured with Russia's envoy Sergei Lavrov, leading the US to scrap a planned photocall at the start of a G20 foreign ministers' meeting.
The traditional event had been scheduled for Friday morning but was cancelled by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who decided the controversy would be a distraction, according to reports.
The diplomatic incident, occurring early at the G20 summit in Atlanta, Georgia, underlines ongoing international tensions over the Ukraine war, triggered more than four years ago by Russia's invasion.
Concerns over Russia's invitation
Some countries had already expressed concern that the US had invited Russia, amid ongoing devastating attacks on its neighbour. Ukraine, which is not a G20 member but had attended previous such meetings, was not invited this year, with US officials saying they had decided to include only formal members of the group.
There has been growing discomfort among allies at Washington's shift towards Moscow over its conflict with Kyiv, which has seen US President Donald Trump waive sanctions against the Kremlin and call for Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky to be replaced as he presses for a settlement.
UK stance on Russian ministers
A UK Government source told the Press Association: "We were not going to take part in any official picture with the Russian foreign minister."
They added: "The Foreign Secretary is here in Atlanta focused on the global challenges that are driving up costs for people at home."
"The UK has a longstanding policy not to have direct, bilateral engagement with Russian ministers since the invasion of Ukraine and we are not about to change that."
Mr Lavrov is a close, long-standing ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Impact on summit agenda
The pulling of the photo has fuelled concerns about the prospects of progress being made on key issues at the meeting. In addition to the Ukraine conflict, other items topping the agenda include the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has caused disruption to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz waterway and driven a spike in fuel prices.
The meeting in Atlanta is meant to set the stage for a G20 leaders' summit hosted by Mr Trump at his Miami golf club in December. It is unclear if Mr Putin will accept the US president's invitation to attend the Florida gathering.
Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the foreign affairs committee, said she could understand why some countries would want to speak to officials from Moscow but that "you wouldn't want to have your photo taken at the moment with the Russians".
"The point is, if there's going to be foreign ministers meeting, there's no point in meeting them just to smile sweetly and pretend everything's OK because everything is not OK," she told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
"What you need to do is use this as an opportunity to make it perfectly clear that Europe is united behind Ukraine and that Russia has got to stop the war."
