June 18, 2026

Thursday. Left a little after ten. Blacksmith. Warm already, with some unorganized white clouds in various shapes. Light to moderate winds out of the south. Koningsweg to Marsdijk (a large Mercedes driving as if it was the highway), then Achterdijk with its tightly-controlled grasslands. Werkhoven and Hollendewagenweg, then toward Dwarsdijk. Just before it, an approaching farm vehicle so big it had no place to go but all of the available asphalt. Other than these two interactions it was a fairly quiet weekday morning. Kapelleweg to 't Goybrug and the Lekdijk. The river peaceful, as were the farms. Just a handful of users at the park near Tull en 't Waal. Tailwind on the Sluispad to Plofsluis, then toward Jutphaas en the Jutphasebrug. The paper at Møs with mixed news about the war. On the one hand, Ukrainian forces have virtually been pushed out of the town of Kostyantynivka (some 70,000 people before the war, virtually nobody left), on the other, a long article explaining how Ukraine's evolving drone capabilities wreak havoc on the access roads to Crimea, and how the same capabilities are hitting Russian units and storage sites well behind the front lines. The same paper also reported on the G-7 pledge of unwavering support for Ukraine's freedom, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. That group includes the American president, so who knows. At any rate, it would be hard today to argue that Ukraine holds no cards. In that light, the news that the EU Council president has confidentially reached out to Moscow to open a channel of communication is strange, to say the least. For the war to end in an even remotely just way, it would have to be Russia reaching out to Brussels, because that would signal distress and perhaps a willingness to give up some of the war aims. For Brussels to reach out to Moscow now seems, except premature, to be a sign of EU anxiety about perhaps being left out of any talks once and if they begin. But it's exactly the wrong signal to send the Kremlin. As today's spectacular drone strikes near Moscow suggest, we may be approaching the point where Russia isn't just not winning, but is actually the losing side, and this for all to see. We need to get a little closer to that point; we need to get to the point where it is clear that Moscow is looking for a way out of its war of aggression. Keep up the pressure, and let them come to us.