The traditional group photo was due to take place on Friday morning, at the start of a G20 meeting of top diplomats in Atlanta, Georgia.
But the US secretary of state Marco Rubio reportedly cancelled it as he decided the controversy would be a distraction.
A third of the participants, including Australia and Canada, made clear they opposed the idea of being photographed alongside Mr Lavrov, Reuters reported, citing a Western diplomat.
Mr Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, has been a long-standing ally of President Vladimir Putin.
The incident underlines the ongoing tensions over the Ukraine war, which was triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour back in February 2022.
“In no case will there be a family photo with European partners and Mr Lavrov together because… there is no normalcy with Russia,” German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said before the first session on Friday.
A UK government source said: “We were not going to take part in any official picture with the Russian foreign minister.”
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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.”
