Vladimir Putin's opening gambit in the new Great Game outfoxes Donald Trump

Agreement contains the building blocks for a wider framework for dealing with the Syrian conflict

The budding relationship between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg was the crowning image of a fractious gathering of world leaders. Yet the promise that a historic agreement has been reached over Syria is a hollow one.

Negotiations between US and Russian officials in Amman, Jordan, prior to the summit allowed the two leaders to look like they were making progress in dealing with the ongoing crisis in Syria. But in reality, the final agreement they reached in Hamburg over a de-escalation of the conflict, confined