Did Putin upstage Obama at UN Syria summit?

Diplomatic protocol could not disguise the frosty, awkward relations between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The chill was all too obvious at the United Nations in New York: in the steely look that Mr Obama gave Mr Putin at lunch - leaving the Russian leader until last to clink wine glasses - and in the perfunctory handshake before their talks, which Mr Putin called "surprisingly very frank". That is usually diplomat-speak for a heated argument.

It was their first formal face-to-face discussion since 2013, though they have had some brief encounters since then. Mr Putin made light of that, stressing that they were in regular phone contact.

Judging from the reactions of media commentators, Mr Putin appears to have won on points overall, and not only in the "duel of speeches", as Germany's Der Spiegel website described it.

Many point out that he skilfully kept the world's focus on the Syria conflict, despite Mr Obama's condemnation of Russia's intervention in eastern Ukraine on the side of pro-Russian rebels.

And for the Russian domestic audience Mr Putin appeared sitting proudly at the top table, as an equal with Mr Obama in tackling the Syrian crisis.

Putin 'swaggering'

So Russia no longer looked diplomatically isolated, despite the Western sanctions imposed for its pro-rebel activities in Ukraine.

In photo opportunities Mr Putin smiled more than Mr Obama - though some saw Mr Putin's expression as a satisfied smirk.

The Russia leader had stolen the spotlight at the United Nations, according to the AFP news agency, with a "swaggering push on the Syria crisis".