Good morning. The president has changed his mind on Ukraine — again. He is now pressing the country to accept a punishing peace plan his administration unveiled last week. American officials spent yesterday in Geneva negotiating the proposal with their counterparts from Ukraine. Both sides say the talks are going well. They are continuing today.
Here’s the dealThe peace proposal released last week read like a wish list for Russia. It would require Kyiv to relinquish captured terrain and shrink its army. It would bar Ukraine from joining NATO and also prohibit foreign troops from coming to its rescue in a future conflict. “Right now the American plan is devastating for Ukraine, weakening its ability to defend itself and providing few guarantees of its future,” Julian Barnes, a Times reporter who covers international security, told me yesterday. The Ukrainians have been outraged, and Volodymyr Zelensky said the proposal was a choice between “losing our dignity and freedom” and losing U.S. support. That could be changing. American and Ukrainian officials met in Geneva this weekend and began reviewing the plan point by point. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they were “narrowing the differences and getting closer to something” that both Kyiv and Washington would be “comfortable with.” The head of Ukraine’s delegation said the officials had made “very good progress.” They’re trying to reach a deal by Thursday, which is the deadline Trump has set for Ukraine to accept the proposal. Trump’s stanceWhile the diplomats in Geneva have been seeking compromise, Trump has been lashing out. He posted that Ukraine’s leadership had “EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE” for American military aid and support. (Zelensky posted his own message hours later, expressing thanks “for everything that America and President Trump are doing for security.”) The exchange took us back to the start of Trump’s second administration, when he and Vice President JD Vance seemed more sympathetic to Russia and publicly berated Zelensky in the Oval Office. Zelensky later adopted a more accommodating tone and signed a deal to give the U.S. some of Ukraine’s minerals. At the same time, Russia continued bombing Ukrainian civilians, which exasperated Trump. Soon, Trump pivoted and spent much of this year lamenting the obstinacy of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. He ripped Putin and praised Zelensky. Which means we’ve come full circle. Next stepsAs talks continue this week in Geneva, here’s what to watch: Timing. Trump wants a peace deal quickly. He has given Ukraine until Thursday to accept his proposal, though he has suggested the deadline could be extended “if things are working well.” Authorship. The plan’s origins are contested. Some U.S. lawmakers have asserted the plan was a Russian initiative, not an American proposal, citing a private conversation with Rubio. Later, Rubio insisted that the U.S. wrote the document. Europe’s strategy. All of Europe has a vested interest in the outcome. “While Mr. Trump often talks about a cease-fire or peace agreement in purely territorial terms, focusing on ‘land swaps’ and other real estate details,” wrote David Sanger, our chief Washington correspondent, “the Europeans think of it in terms of containment of Mr. Putin.” Rally effects. The unfavorable peace plan may strengthen Ukrainians’ support for Zelensky and could distract from a corruption scandal that has threatened his government. Negotiations. European officials believe the proposed plan ought to be just a starting place rather than the end. Trump has often softened his ultimatums and rotated his positions in response to public opinion and diplomacy. Ukraine has many supporters, including in the Republican Party. (One Republican senator, Mitch McConnell, said yesterday that “pressuring the victim and appeasing the aggressor” would not bring peace.) All of which means we are far from a conclusion. “Trump has gone back and forth,” Julian said. “And he could swing again.” Now let’s look at what else is happening in the world.
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It’s time for Democrats to run on a populist economic platform, including supporting a minimum wage hike and universal child care, James Carville writes. Here are columns by David French on defying military orders and Ezra Klein on America’s housing crisis. The Times Sale: Our best rate for readers of The Morning. Save now with our best offer on unlimited news and analysis as part of the complete Times experience: $1/week for your first year.
Letter of Recommendation: Look again at abandoned shopping malls. Kelly Karivalis has been considering the one near her home in Pennsylvania. It’s as inspiring to her as a Roman ruin. “Ever since I learned of its likely demise, I have become strangely attached,” she writes. “I sit in my car outside the parking lot, blasting ballads of unbearable yearning and scribbling in my diary about the mall as if it broke up with me.” Toying with tariffs: Read how one German toymaker made money despite the ongoing trade war. Metropolitan Diary: Another bucket of beer. Your pick: The Morning’s most-clicked link yesterday was about the terminal cancer diagnosis of Tatiana Schlossberg, a granddaughter of John F. Kennedy. Incendiary orator: Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin defined Black militancy in the 1960s with a call to arms against white oppression. Later, after becoming a Muslim cleric, he was convicted of murder. He died in detention at 82.
10— That’s the maximum number of votes a viewer can cast in the Eurovision Song Contest, down from 20 last year. The new rule is intended to limit the influence of governments on the public poll that helps decide the winner.
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This is a good week to cook big, bold flavors in advance of the Thanksgiving feast. I like this slow-cooker chili for that — it’s richly spiced, with layers of deep, savory flavor that arise from the unexpected additions of unsweetened cocoa, soy sauce and Worcestershire. You don’t need to make it in a slow cooker. Add a little more water to the stew and you can burble it into excellence on the stovetop in about an hour. Serve with hot sauce, grated sharp Cheddar cheese, sliced scallions, sour cream and corn chips. Is nice.
Since Louis C.K. admitted to sexual misconduct eight years ago, the comedian has put out four different specials — hourlong sets of comedy filmed live. Our critic Jason Zinoman took in the latest at the Beacon Theater in New York last week. Taken together, he says, “it’s a large, underexamined, formally audacious body of work that represents a break from the past, but also continuity.” Onstage, Louis C.K. put it a little differently. “You can live a great life,” he said. “But you’re still alive after that part.” More on culture
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