During an unusually hot March day in New Delhi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov finished off a cigarette under the blazing sun outside meeting rooms at the G20.
The media watching in the background did not know it at the time, but Mr Lavrov was about to have his first face-to-face talk with US counterpart Antony Blinken since his government invaded Ukraine.
In the lead-up to the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Delhi, such an interaction seemed implausible.
"If Russia... were genuinely prepared to engage in meaningful diplomacy necessary to end the aggression, of course, we'd be the first to work to engage, but there's zero evidence of that," Mr Blinken said before touching down in New Delhi.
The meeting happened face-to-face, but it came with a lot of caveats.
It was less than 10 minutes, according to the Russian foreign ministry, at the request of Mr Blinken, and "on the go".
But the historic talk between the ministers failed to trigger any consensus among the West, Russia and China.
Instead, the narrative from both sides was one of blame.
Depending on who you speak to, the West and Russia accuse each other of pushing the globe into chaos following the Ukraine war.
Mr Blinken told Mr Lavrov that the US would support Ukraine for "as long as it takes".
"It's a war that President Putin can end tomorrow if he chose to do so. We worked hard to prevent it."
Mr Lavrov hit back, accusing the West of "blackmailing".
"A number of Western delegations turned the work on the G20 agenda into a farce, wanting to shift the responsibility for their failures in the economy to the Russian Federation."
The atmosphere may have gotten to Mr Lavrov, who snapped at an usher trying to show him into the main hall.
"I know the way, don't show me," he said.
In a forum that is supposed to build global cooperation, critics say outcomes like this show the G20 is now just reinforcing existing global divisions.
Modi pleads for a little civility
At the start of the G20 meeting, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi beamed down from a large screen to address the room of foreign ministers.
Mr Modi rarely speaks in English, but he wanted a strong message of unity to get through.
"We must all acknowledge that multilateralism is in crisis today," he said.
"The experience of the last few years — financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, terrorism, and wars — clearly shows that global governance has failed in both its mandates.
"I pray that you will draw inspiration from India's civilisational ethos — to focus not on what divides us, but on what unites us."
India is building strong relations with Australia and the US, which have both continued to condemn Russia's role in the Ukraine war.
But India has held back from criticising Russia — the largest supplier of arms to the South Asian nation — directly.
In the last year, India also increased oil imports from Russia.
As the host country, India had high hopes it could use its unique position in the middle of the two sides to bring them together with its "considered and balanced position", according to sources close to the Indian government.
Australia, while continuing to condemn Russia, also tried to step into a mediating role by using its improving relationship with China to encourage greater "leadership" on the issue.
"The world does look to China, for its responsible leadership when it comes to Ukraine, particularly given its close relationship with Russia," Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said after a bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang.
Is the G20 effective if it's gripped by discord?
The G20 meeting is a rare opportunity for leaders of the most powerful nations in the world to come together.
But this was the second G20 meeting during which attendees dispensed with the traditional "family photo" after Western leaders declined to stand with Mr Lavrov.
Each meeting aims to come up with a joint statement addressing action on major global issues.
By the end of the day, India's External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishanker delivered the final verdict.
Despite agreeing on "95 per cent" of issues discussed on the day, including climate change and terrorism, there was one which divided the room.
"There were issues, and the issues, very frankly, [were] concerning the Ukraine conflict, on which there were divergences," he said.
"On the bulk of the issue issues, we were able to get an outcome document ... there were differences on the Ukraine issue, which we could not reconcile between various parties who held differing positions."
Despite India's best efforts to bring nations together, it could not defeat the existing frictions within the world.
So, it left the G20 members with a pertinent message — the longer these political divisions exist, the more people from developing nations will suffer.
"For much of the global south, this is a make-or-break issue, that the costs of fuel, the costs of food, the cost of fertiliser... which means next year's food, these are all extremely pressing issues," Dr S. Jaishanker said to media at the end of the day.
"If you see some of the some of the countries who were already struggling with debt, who are already impacted by the pandemic, for them, the knock-on effects of this conflict ... it is a matter of very, very deep concern for us."
This meeting will set the tone for a summit of leaders of the G20 countries in September.
Whether they will be able to garner some sort of unity in the next six months, as India has requested, will test the efficacy of this global forum.
