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Former President Donald Trump stated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", following fierce reaction from Ukrainian leaders and commentators that likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During short remarks from the White House, Trump informed journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Switzerland on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, US senators informed media outlets that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva for clarification on the nature of this disclosed proposal. He said, the proposal did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator Angus King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Crucial Deadline

However, the former president has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Ukraine to cede territory under its control to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping the nation's honor and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Appointed for Geneva Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy emphasized that genuine or respectable peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He announced a negotiating team, established through a decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said they will hold consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at red lines, he noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This is another stage of the dialogue that has been ongoing in recent days and is primarily aimed at aligning our vision for the next steps."

Global Reaction and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it requires "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, Nayyem expressed his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She said that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."