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Ex-leader Trump stated this past weekend that the Moscow-drafted peace plan was "not my final offer", following fierce reaction from Ukraine's officials and analysts that compared it to the Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In short comments from the White House, Trump told journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case it must be resolved."

Upcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Multiple Nations

US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss this proposal. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in these negotiations there.

Prior to the talks, US senators told media outlets that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead reflected Russian desires, according to Senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Critical Time Limit

Nevertheless, the former president has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to give up land under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country faces a difficult decision over the coming days involving preserving its national dignity and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukraine's Dialogue Team Formed for Geneva Meetings

In comments on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He announced a delegation, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and security council official Umerov, stated they will hold discussions with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, Umerov 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."

International Response and Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with the US administration apparently intent to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it needs "additional work". It said that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, he expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" 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.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not cede territory.

While speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She said that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions for a limited time if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she said.

European Officials Condemn the Proposal

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin called it a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."