When Russian President Vladimir Putin came out to welcome world leaders to this week's G-20 summit at the Constantine Palace in Strelna, a St. Petersburg suburb, many wondered how it would go between him and U.S. President Barack Obama.

The latter had, after all, likened Putin to a bored, slouching kid at the back of the class. The Russian ex-KGB officer, eight years Obama's senior, took offense. In an interview the day before the summit, he resorted to the royal "we" when commenting on Obama's remark: "I am surprised sometimes to read about body language, about us being bored or otherwise behaving differently. Who but ourselves can say what's in our heads and our souls?"

The leaders arrived one after another in Russian-assembled Series 7 BMWs that were provided by the hosts. Putin laughed with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and spent more time talking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel than to any of his other guests. Obama was the last to appear -– in his own Cadillac.

He extended his hand as soon as he climbed out of the limousine, and Putin did the same as he walked over to meet him. The handshake was brief, just long enough for photographers to capture Obama's broad smile and Putin's more tight-lipped one.

Through most of the first day Putin and Obama avoided each other. The organizers initially wanted to seat the G20 leaders according to the Russian alphabetical order of their countries, putting only King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia between Putin and Obama, but decided at the last moment to switch to the Latin alphabet. The Russian and U.S. presidents ended up separated by five people. They didn't exchange a meaningful word.

Finally, the two stepped aside for a 20-minute conversation during the first day's dinner and reception. The talk appears to have been inconclusive.

The St. Petersburg meeting of the G-20 may well go down in history as the Sulky Summit, but also as a qualified Putin victory. "Syria: G-20 trapped by Putin," read a headline in the conservative French newspaper le Figaro.

Most of the leaders present share the Russian president's views on whether to intervene in Syria, the most divisive issue on the agenda. European Council President Herman van Rompuy, representing the European Union at the summit, said early on that -- unlike Obama and his British, French, Turkish and Canadian allies -- he did not support airstrikes. Putin even received a letter from Pope Francis, which said the search for a military solution in Syria was "futile." Like van Rompuy, Merkel wants the situation to be resolved within the framework of the United Nations, and most of the leaders of the emerging world agree.

At June's G-8 summit in Northern Ireland, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted that Putin was an outlier in the group, because of his stand on Syria: "I don't think we should fool ourselves. This is G7 plus one ... We in the West have a very different perspective on this situation. Mr. Putin and his government are supporting the thugs of the Assad regime for their own reasons that I do not think are justifiable."

Yet Putin was able to block the G-8 from issuing a statement condemning Assad and demanding his ouster -- and that was before the Obama called for air strikes to punish Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians.

In St. Petersburg, Putin and Harper smiled and shook hands. The Canadian prime minister did not talk of "G-19 plus one." In the expanded format, a tough line on Assad is unpopular. Putin clearly enjoyed rubbing in the fact that a number of big, increasingly economically powerful countries did not feel the need to fall in with the U.S. line.

Putin also reveled in his role as host. It was he who cajoled Russian and foreign companies into helping to fund the $300 million refurbishment of the Constantine palace, finished in 2003. So the imperial splendor of the summit's backdrop was in part his doing. The meeting was impeccably and expensively organized, the Kremlin having splurged on a fleet of new buses and electric cars, a majestic light show at the baroque palace in Peterhof, and a further $60 million pre-summit facelift of the Constantine palace.

This being Russia, some of the expense was called into question. Dimtry Peskov, the Kremlin press secretary, said that during the first day of the summit, 1,500 people were served by the press center's restaurant, consuming 26 tons of food. "You're eating a lot," he told reporters. Journalists quickly calculated that Peskov's numbers came to 17 kilograms (37.5 pounds) of food per person.

"They must have allocated money for 26 tons of food," Elena Panfilova, head of the Russian branch of Transparency International, wrote only half-jokingly on Facebook. "Then they must have skimmed 50 percent right off and another 40 percent when they went about buying the 13 tons for which they had money left. That left them with about 7.5 tons. Then they lost another 30 percent to spillage and shrinkage during transportation and cooking. So about 5 tons was served, and I know from experience that one can put away some three kilos of canapes and sandwiches during a stressful event."

Syria aside, Obama and Harper have the same problem with Putin and his regime that many Russians do: It is transparently corrupt, Byzantine and self-serving. That, however, does not prevent it from organizing impressive international events and scoring diplomatic victories.

(Leonid Bershidsky, an editor and novelist, is a Bloomberg View contributor).

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 2511: Barack Obama & Vladimir Putin Handshake at 2013 G20 Meeting (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

 Vladimir Putin greeted the other G20 leaders as they arrived for their annual meeting earlier today. This year the gathering of the World's economic powers was held in St. Petersburg. Much has been made in the last several hours about Barack's and Vladimir's handshake.
The photographed or videoed political handshake is unlike almost any other handshake because it is so very posed for the camera and media. Thus certain aspects of this particular species of handshake are diminished while others are often exaggerated. Yet there remains a myriad of emotions and mindsets which can be gleaned from careful nonverbal observation. What follows is an analysis of Putin and Obama's handshake and initial contact at the 2013 G20 meeting.

In most circumstances it is not advised that a man buttons his suit jacket just prior to a greeting and shaking hands - because this can be a signal of deliberative distancing and arrogance and thus should be avoided. However when the jacket is left open it signals a mirroring open, inviting and friendly emotional tone - and engenders the same feelings in others.
President Obama however buttons his suit for virtually all initial greetings. He is also concerned about being photogenic and does not want to perceived as sloppy. Perhaps this would have been one occasion where it was particularly advisable to leave his jacket open. He wants to win over Vladimir and build rapport. Barack distanced himself with this action though.

In the instant just prior to the initial hand contact, note that Barack  Obama's hand is slightly less than perpendicular to the ground - close to, but not quite in the neutral position.
Putin's hand however, is turned moderately so that he will be in the dominant position when the two leaders hands' meet. 

A second later after the hand contact is made, Putin maintains his arm and wrist so that he is still somewhat on top - therefore slightly more dominant or in the alpha position - advantage Russia.
Vladimir's hand should be further out - away from his torso in order to project diplomacy and build rapport (e.g. equals, reaching out, meeting another half way). His need to maintain his hand on top and the muscle strength in order to achieve this necessitates him keeping his arm closer to his body.
With his six inch disadvantage in height and a proportional diminished leverage - there was a much easier way for Putin to achieve this hand dominance - do you know how?
Notice that President Putin is leaning slightly backwards here while Obama is leaning toward his Russian counterpart. This puts the American in a more dominant position and is strongly suggestive that Putin is intimidated by Obama. Advantage U.S.
Note here that Obama is not looking at Putin (this is known as "gaze aversion") - nor is Barack smiling. The importance of eye contact and sincere (Duchenne) smiling during a handshake cannot be overstated - yet so few who should know better follow through with this body language. Bad form Barack.
Vladimir's emotional mindset is very tense in this instant - as betrayed by his clenched jaw muscles. This is a typical false smile for the former KGB agent (any many, many others).

Here Putin is leaning even further backwards while his false-smile-jaw-clench persists.

One anomaly specific to photographed political handshakes is the extreme number of hand pumps (posing for cameras, etc.) - here the two World leaders exhibit seventeen pumps. Although it can be a form of one-up-man-ship, be careful not to read too much into this action in this setting.
The number of hand pumps is variable to the country and region. Before visiting another, this is one idiosyncrasy that is important to learn in advance.
Putin's strong gaze aversion further amplified by a head-tilt downward, is very poor form in this moment.

Here is a close-up view of their hand orientation. Putin is on top by approximately 25 degrees - in a slight but significant dominant (alpha) configuration.
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Another oddity particular to the political handshake is turning towards the camera - thus preventing eye contact - in order to allow a good photograph moment.
Obama's smile is sincere here, and Putin's is significantly improved (although not fully a Duchenne smile quite yet).

In this instant, Obama displays a microexpression of disgust. 

Here Obama begins to pat Putin on his shoulder-upper arm region but aborts his effort.
This was wise of Barack. Such contact is a form of false-affection display - it is patronizing, arrogant and is ill-advised.
Those in power, whether a CEO or a head-of-state use this nonverbal far too often. Do not feign affection. Even young children can tell you're faking it.

Here it is Putin's turn to display a mild expression of disgust. It is however, longer lasting than Obama's disgust microexpression.

Putin's disgust continues as his negative feelings persist with his downward gaze. This head-eye position indicates a submissive, beta behavior relative to Obama's.