Yaroslav Trofimov

The positions are still very much far apart because Iran thinks it's winning.

And Iran thinks that time is on its side.

And this statement by Trump was seen in Iran as a victory because the Iranians have warned that if Trump strikes Iranian energy infrastructure, they will strike back across the Gulf and plunge Gulf countries into darkness.

The demands they are issuing right now officially are a massive reparation.

So billions and billions of dollars to be paid by the U.S.

taxpayers to Iran to compensate for all the destruction in the last three weeks.

Be the removal of all American bases from the Middle East.

So America has to basically surrender the Middle East to Iranian domination.

And three, permanent Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz with Iran being paid by every ship that passes through it.

Correct, correct.

And that's what they're holding out for.

And that's obviously something that neither the U.S.

nor the Gulf states find palatable.

Well, absolutely, absolutely.

They are very far apart, and so the very fact that they are talking doesn't necessarily mean, if they are talking, as President Trump says, that it doesn't necessarily mean that any agreement is possible in the foreseeable future.

Let's also remember that Russia and Ukraine have had negotiations since March 2022, and we're now four years later, and they're still at war.

And the question is, is the American public opinion ready for several more months of this conflict?

Is the American public opinion ready for casualties that will have to be encouraged to reopen the Strait?

Well, it's really hard to predict because we don't know if we're in the beginning or in the end of this war or in the middle.

I think there are no easy options for President Trump in how to extricate the U.S.