RUSSIA PERSPECTIVE

Moscow covers the Islamabad negotiations by spotlighting the absence of an American Plan B — a detail RT transforms into an admission of strategic weakness. TASS, the official voice, focuses on Iranian demands for reparations from the US and its allies, a condition Khamenei's envoy frames as non-negotiable. Russian coverage performs its classic inversion: it's America that's cornered, not Iran. The fact that talks take place in Pakistan rather than Geneva or Doha is read as proof Washington has lost control of the diplomatic framework. Russia, absent from the table but omnipresent behind the scenes through arms sales to Tehran, has every interest in prolonged negotiations — every day Hormuz stays blocked weakens Europe and strengthens Russia's energy leverage.