![Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (4th R, front) and Arab League's Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (3rd R, front) and other participants of the talks pose for a picture in Moscow, Russia April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov - RC16F50591A0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/04/RTX6RWDV.jpg/RTX6RWDV.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=-rwc-RNl)
Marianna Belenkaya writes on the Middle East for the Russian daily Kommersant. An Arab studies scholar with almost 20 years of experience covering the Middle East, she served in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s press pool from 2000 to 2007 as a political commentator for RIA Novosti and later became the first editor of the RT Arabic (formerly Rusiya al-Yaum) website, until 2013. She has written for the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the Russian Profile Magazine and Al-Hayat and is now a regular contributor to the Carnegie Moscow Center. On Twitter: @lavmir
![Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (4th R, front) and Arab League's Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (3rd R, front) and other participants of the talks pose for a picture in Moscow, Russia April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov - RC16F50591A0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/04/RTX6RWDV.jpg/RTX6RWDV.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=-rwc-RNl)
![Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi welcomes his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov before their meeting, in Amman, Jordan April 7, 2019. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RC19E3A1E9F0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/04/RTS2GO4D.jpg/RTS2GO4D.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=1o7jrB5t)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Pool - RC1B6D2D7090](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/03/RTS2EZZ7.jpg/RTS2EZZ7.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=dzUa79KZ)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Algerian counterpart Abdelkader Messahel enter a hall during a meeting in Moscow, Russia February 19, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - UP1EE2J0R78HE](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/03/RTX4XPRQ.jpg/RTX4XPRQ.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=E9d3ujqm)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is seen during a news conference with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, UAE, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Satish Kumar - RC19A7AA4720](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/03/RTX6PXF2.jpg/RTX6PXF2.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=Jr-vORnH)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov talks during a meeting with representatives of Palestinian groups and movements as a part of an intra-Palestinian talks in Moscow, Russia February 12, 2019. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS - RC1508E52650](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/02/RTX6MDYK.jpg/RTX6MDYK.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=ZJjc5dmR)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey meet in Tehran, Iran September 7, 2018. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC179AE28110](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/02/RTS20EVS.jpg/RTS20EVS.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=jVIk_sRr)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita meets Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Morocco's capital Rabat, January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer - RC121B4F3DC0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2019/01/RTS2C9AV.jpg/RTS2C9AV.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=WOjoInLS)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) welcomes his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki (L) ahead of their meeting, in Moscow, on December 21, 2018. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/12/GettyImages-1074492196.jpg/GettyImages-1074492196.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=xF6yS8HM)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shake hands as they attend a news conference after talks on forming a constitutional committee in Syria, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RC1C28C75F90](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/12/RTX6J29H.jpg/RTX6J29H.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=VLHOxvLv)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![RTS1J7KS.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/12/RTS1J7KS.jpg/RTS1J7KS.jpg?h=4bd20877&itok=a8zmFIt_)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya
![Russia's President Vladimir Putin leaves after a lunch at the Elysee Palace in Paris as part of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War, France, November 11, 2018. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Pool TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1EC88496F0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/11/RTS25ITS.jpg/RTS25ITS.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=KZ0H2Vy4)
![Marianna Belenkaya](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/2017/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg/MariannaBelenkaya.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=639IA0ea)
Marianna Belenkaya