No clear winner in Russia-US G20 duel

According to President Vladimir Putin, the outcome was not a 50/50 split, but a balance of opinion in Russia's favour, he claimed that, at the G20 dinner on Syria, only four countries - France, Turkey, Canada and Saudi Arabia (plus a British prime minister rebuffed by his own parliament) - had backed America.

Whereas siding with Russia in rejecting military strikes on Syria, he says, were seven nations: China, India, Indonesia, Argentina and Brazil, as well as South Africa and Italy, yet not all the Russian president's views on Syria were endorsed by other G20 leaders.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama also declared he had enjoyed support from a majority of G20 participants, who were "comfortable" with American claims.

Eleven countries did indeed endorse a joint statement circulated by the White House, alongside the US were, unsurprisingly, the two keenest cheerleaders when it comes to taking military action, French President Francois Hollande and Britain's David Cameron.

source bbc