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Former President Donald Trump remarked this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, after intense reaction from Ukrainian officials and analysts who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In short remarks from the White House, the US president informed journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in the talks in Geneva.

Prior to the talks, US senators told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by independent Maine senator Angus King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Deadline

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede territory it currently controls to Russia, downsize its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that his country faces an impossible choice over the coming days involving keeping the nation's honor and forfeiting key ally like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments on Saturday, the president said that real or "dignified" peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold discussions with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at limits, Umerov added: 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."

International Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a collective declaration opposing Trump’s plan, saying it needs "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, drawn up by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Analysts argued it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine over many years. It conceded "barely anything" in the proposed deal and maintained troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If rejected, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Varied Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation should be ready to give away certain regions temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Leaders Condemn the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. A critical juncture for the European Union."