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Former President Trump stated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", following strong backlash from Ukrainian leaders and commentators who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short remarks from the White House, Trump told reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Various Nations

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

Ahead of these discussions, US senators informed the press that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the nature of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Critical Deadline

However, the former president has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to give up land it currently controls to Moscow, downsize the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre speech last Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice in the near future between keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments this weekend, the president emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, established through a decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said there would be consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at limits, he 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

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

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, saying it requires "additional work". 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 European Union membership.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, he said he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Russia has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". It conceded "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he said.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he said. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of military intelligence for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Barchan, asserted that the country 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 said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider ceding certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Leaders Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

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