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President Trump suggested in an interview published today that a Russian victory in Ukraine would be inevitable. “At some point,” the president said, “size will win.” He said it was time for Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, to start “accepting things” in the cease-fire talks.
Despite a recent push from the U.S., negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are still far from agreeing on territory. The Kremlin has said that any peace deal must cede the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia, including 2,500 square miles and two major cities that Ukraine still controls, which is a nonstarter for Kyiv. [See the area under dispute on these maps](http…
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President Trump suggested in an interview published today that a Russian victory in Ukraine would be inevitable. “At some point,” the president said, “size will win.” He said it was time for Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, to start “accepting things” in the cease-fire talks.
Despite a recent push from the U.S., negotiators from Ukraine and Russia are still far from agreeing on territory. The Kremlin has said that any peace deal must cede the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia, including 2,500 square miles and two major cities that Ukraine still controls, which is a nonstarter for Kyiv. See the area under dispute on these maps.
Zelensky said that Ukraine was expecting to complete its revised proposal to end the war this evening and would soon provide it to the U.S. He met yesterday with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany to discuss alternative cease-fire plans.
**In related news: **Russia and Ukraine are also fighting over who gets to claim Kazimir Malevich, the renowned painter.
**Also in the interview: **Trump called America’s European allies “weak” and “decaying,” criticizing their handling of issues like immigration. “I think they don’t know what to do,” the president said, days after the administration indicated that the U.S. should no longer guarantee Europe’s security.
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Credit...Eric Lee for The New York Times
The Supreme Court considers campaign finance limits
Justices on the Supreme Court grappled today with whether to lift limits on how much money political parties can spend in coordination with candidates. Republican groups brought the case, arguing that the limits violate the First Amendment by restricting the ability of political groups to reach voters.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her fellow liberal justices voiced skepticism about unraveling limitations. “Our tinkering causes more harm than it does good,” she said. The conservatives, who will probably decide the case, asked fewer, more muted questions, giving little indication of how they are likely to rule.
If the justices ultimately decide to lift the limits, it could undercut one of the Democrats’ financial advantages going into the midterms.
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Note: Data is plotted weekly through Dec. 5, 2025. The vertical scale is adjusted to make relative changes comparable. Source: LSEG Data & Analytics.Credit...The New York Times
Wall Street is shaking off fears of an A.I. bubble, for now
The stock market has been on a hot streak in recent years, thanks in large part to the promise of artificial intelligence. Tech companies and investors have poured billions into A.I. start-ups, sending valuations to once unthinkable levels.
Some investors are worried we may be in a period akin to 1999, just before the dot-com boom went bust. But more seem to see enough differences between now and then, or they say that we’re closer to 1996 — when there were still huge gains to be made before the downturn.
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Credit...Vincent Alban/The New York Times
Kamala Harris is not ready to be written off
For much of the last two decades, Kamala Harris was seen as a future face of the Democratic Party. Now, a year after her loss to Trump, she is at risk of her time having passed.
Our national political correspondent Shane Goldmacher sat down with Harris and talked to more than two dozen of her current and past advisers to see what she is thinking as Democrats look for their next leader. People are buying her new book and showing up en masse to hear her talk. It’s not yet clear what she wants to say — even though she’s been making moves behind the scenes.
More top news
Court: A federal judge granted the Justice Department’s motion to unseal the records of the grand jury investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell.
**Immigration: **Illinois’s governor, J.B. Pritzker, signed a bill that restricts immigration arrests around state courthouses.
Australia: A law that bars anyone younger than 16 from having social media accounts went into effect.
**Middle East: **Israel’s Supreme Court delayed a challenge to the ban on open media access to Gaza.
**Asia: **Hundreds of thousands of Thais and Cambodians have fled an outbreak of deadly border violence.
**Health: **Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said the next national Dietary Guidelines will recommend saturated fats. We asked experts if that’s a good idea.
**Abortion: **Three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the number of abortions has climbed.
**Housing: In California, the average price **for a one-bedroom rental is about $2,100 a month, pushing people into illicit housing units. One man told us what that’s like.
Archaeology: 187,460 miles of road led to Rome, according to a new estimate. This atlas maps them all.
**Lives Lived: **Iain Douglas-Hamilton, a world-renowned expert on elephants who was one of the first to study their intricate social behavior in the wild, died at 83.
DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
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Clockwise from top left: Ron Curtis; Paola Roldán Espinosa; Jan Grijpma; Denise de Ruijter.Credit...Lori Weber; Roldán family; Maria Grijpma; Bianca de Ruijter
Should you be able to ask a doctor to help you die?
The practice, known as medically assisted death, has begun to gain acceptance around the world — in liberal European countries and conservative Latin American ones alike. But even among proponents, major questions remain about who should be eligible.
TIME TO UNWIND
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Credit...The New York Times
Our favorite dishes from across America
My colleagues on our Food team traveled to 33 states this year to eat at some of the best restaurants in the country. Along the way, they came across several meals that they wanted to share with you all: These were their 23 favorite dishes.
Of course, they often ended their meals with a sweet treat. These were their 14 favorite desserts.
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The “Family Guy” seasonal special, “Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie.”Credit...Hulu
Not all holiday specials are created equal
On this day 60 years ago, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered on CBS. It might still be the best television holiday special. But networks and streaming services haven’t given up on the genre.
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Frank Gehry in front of his house in 1988.Credit...George Rose/Getty Images
Dinner table topics
**Deconstructivist icon: **One of Frank Gehry’s early masterpieces is too often forgotten: his own home.
**Layers of meaning: **James Marshall’s “George and Martha” may be a children’s book. But our writer says it’s for adults, too.
**Visual love letters: **From jail, the Chinese artist Gao Zhen sends portraits fashioned from paper to his family.
**Not just 555: **“Stranger Things” is the latest show to include a phone number that actually connects somewhere.
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
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Melissa Clark’s classic potato latkes are a reader favorite.Credit...Joel Goldberg for The New York Times
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Credit...The New York Times
We can still outmatch A.I. at Connections
Computers are better than humans at many games. In chess, for example, none of us stand a chance against the best artificial intelligence tools. But that’s not the case with The Times’s word association game, Connections (or Sports Connections, for that matter).
Humans are able to find subtle links between the meaning or structure of words, which is the key to Connections puzzles. When Shafik Quoraishee, an engineer for our Games department, tried to teach an A.I. system to work in a similar way, it made clear its limitations. “A.I.’s greatest lesson isn’t about its own potential,” Shafik said, “but about the incredible power of the three-pound universe inside our own heads.”
Have an intelligent evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
Philip Pacheco was our photo editor.
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.
***Correction: ***A caption in yesterday’s newsletter misidentified the actor Jason Isaacs as the character he plays in “White Lotus,” Timothy Ratliff.
Matthew Cullen is the lead writer of The Evening, a Times newsletter covering the day’s top stories every weekday.
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