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Ex-leader Trump indicated on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted "not my final offer", after intense reaction from Ukrainian officials and analysts who likened it to a 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief remarks at the White House, the US president informed journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Include Multiple Countries

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of these discussions, American lawmakers informed media outlets that State Department head Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. It also rules out a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future involving preserving its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Meetings

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

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Umerov, said there would be consultations with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting red lines, 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."

Global Reaction and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or disregard the constitutional framework that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a joint statement opposing Trump’s plan, stating it needs further refinement. It said that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, he expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep 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 said. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. It belongs to Ukraine." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation should be ready ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Officials Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."