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Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukraine's officials and analysts who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Hitler.

In brief comments from the White House, the US president informed 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."

Forthcoming Geneva Talks Include Various Countries

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators told media outlets that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. It calls on Kyiv to give up land under its control to Russia, downsize its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future involving preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting key ally like the United States. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments on Saturday, Zelenskyy emphasized that real or "dignified" peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said they will hold consultations with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting limits, Umerov added: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

International Response and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a joint statement opposing Trump’s plan, saying it needs further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted 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, drawn up by a Russian representative and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal belonged to a similar category, with the victim invited "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. This offended those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine over many years. The agreement offered very little in the proposed deal and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he added. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Officials Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."