Tillerson Sees Qatar Crisis Lingering With Talks Elusive

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said a dispute between a Saudi Arabian-led bloc and Qatar may last “quite a while” as the two sides still refuse to speak to each other directly and are no closer to resolving the key demands made after the crisis started.

Despite leaving the Middle East after four days of shuttle diplomacy without a breakthrough, Tillerson said progress was made. Potential ways forward in the dispute were weighed by both sides and there is a “changed sense of willingness to at least be open to talking to one another and that was not the case before I came,” Tillerson said Thursday evening while en route to Washington from the Gulf region.