Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar in an attempt to bring the Gulf nations on board its project for the reconstruction of Syria. In particular, the trip underlined Moscow’s expectation that Qatari involvement in a new trilateral consultation process alongside Turkey will generate more international support and momentum for the rebuilding of Syria.

But given that this unlikely coalition consists of actors that have backed opposing sides in Syria’s civil war, does the new initiative have any chance for success?

A new trilateral framework

On Mar. 11, Lavrov met with his Turkish and Qatari counterparts, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Doha...