It isn’t a 21st century version of the Cold War, but there has been a dramatic change in Donald Trump’s dealings with Syria ~ the Russian President’s ally till the other day. The unmistakable tension between Washington and Moscow has surfaced barely six months after the Russian President strained every nerve to get Trump elected and, one is tempted to add, Hillary Clinton defeated. To the astonishing extent that the Kremlin’s game theory marked a momentous reversal of Cold War perceptions, a kind of meddling that has recently been confirmed by the FBI.

The US cruise missile attack on Bashar alAssad’s country has happened in the immediate aftermath of the chemical gas carnage. And the storm clouds were gathering thick and fast last weekend when Russia mobilised its warship, Admiral Grigorovich, in the direction of Syria following the first direct strike by the US on the Assad regime. Subsequent events will bear out whether the sailing of the warship was intended only to be a threat to the US. Suffice it to register that the partners in Election 2016 have now conveyed the impression that they are gearing up for a confrontation over Syria.

Not wholly unrelated to the build-up of tension is the reported suggestion by Assad’s aides to seek the refuge of a bunker. Not that President Trump is overly keen on removing Assad; the US administration has in a bizarre justification described Assad’s rule as “political reality”. We do not know whether the missile strike was intended to unnerve the presidential palace in Damascus. Yet we do know that the nerve gas has had a calamitous effect.

Markedly, the White House has been anxious to present last Friday’s sudden offensive as a “contained response to a specific atrocity”. In a sense, there is a thread that links Barack Obama to Donald Trump. The incumbent is as loath as his predecessor to rock the boat. Indeed, Obama was always unwilling to use military options to remove Assad. Ergo, a regime change in Syria doesn’t appear to be on the US agenda quite yet.

Of course, Trump had a compelling reason to emit a signal ~ after 70 people, notably children, perished in a chemical gas attack. Equally, the sailing of Admiral Grigorovich might serve to bring the curtains on the Trump-Putin bonhomie, which had blossomed with a terribly critical agenda last November.

The Kremlin’s strategic interest in backing the Syrian regime, and its willingness to use every tool at its disposal to support Assad ~ from its jets to its Security Council veto ~ means he is unlikely to be dislodged any time soon. As Simon Jenkins, former Editor of The Times, puts it succinctly in The Guardian ~ President Trump’s emotions have been stirred, but his bombs won’t help Syria.