The MOU Moving Forward
On 2 July 2026, I was on Rachel Blevins’s popular podcast. We talked about Russian progress on the battlefields of Ukraine, where that war is going to be settled and where the Russian are in the driver’s seat. Very importantly, Rachel and I had a detailed discussion of the 17 June 2026 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Iran and the US. It is obviously a document with a good number of moving parts and how they are all likely to fit together in the negotiations ahead is a bit of a puzzle. But I thought we did a very good job of making sense of that important document.
Claiming on day 1,594 of Putin’ 3 day war folly in Ukraine that Russia is somehow “..on the move..” requires context; At Russia’s current rate of territorial acquisition (80km/month) they are half a millennium away from conquering all of Ukraine.
Rachel Blevins is a fantastic journalist! I'm so glad I didn't miss this interview. Thank you so much for sharing. Do yourselves a favor and go hit the follow button on her channel. Cheers John! Great interview