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Ex-leader Trump remarked on Saturday that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", after intense backlash from Ukrainian officials and analysts that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments at the White House, the US president informed journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, in any case we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Geneva Talks Involve Multiple Nations

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

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers informed the press that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland for clarification on the nature of the leaked plan. He said, the proposal did not originate from the administration 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

Nevertheless, the former president has set Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. It calls on Kyiv to cede land it currently controls to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. It also rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country faces an impossible choice over the coming days involving keeping its national dignity and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Meetings

In comments this weekend, the president said that real or "dignified" resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated there would be consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting limits, he noted: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. 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 Response and Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with a White House apparently intent to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard the constitutional framework that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held 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.

Public Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said 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 Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Moscow has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, 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

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Ivanovna said she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation ought to consider to give away 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 Leaders Condemn the Proposal

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."