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TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MARIA PANINA
(FILES) This file photo taken on September 28, 2015 shows US President Barack Obama (R) and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) posing for a photo ahead of a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The G20 summit starting in China on September 4, 2016 gives Russian President Vladimir Putin one more chance to try to strongarm US leader Barack Obama over Syria and Ukraine as their fraught relationship nears an end. In recent years the two world leaders have barely been able to hide their disdain for each other as ties between Washington and Moscow fell to their lowest level since the Cold War over the crisis in Ukraine. Now with elections for a new US president just over two months away, Russian analysts say an emboldened Putin could see the G20 as an opportunity to press for concessions from Obama, particularly on Syria if he wants to make progress on the war before leaving office. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN