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Former President Trump stated on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted proposal for peace was not his ultimate proposal, after intense criticism from Ukraine's leaders and commentators that likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In short comments from the White House, the US president informed reporters: "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."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations in Geneva.

Ahead of these discussions, American lawmakers told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by independent Maine senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, Trump has given Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. It calls on Ukraine to give up territory under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that his country confronts an impossible choice in the near future between keeping its national dignity and losing key ally like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukrainian Dialogue Delegation Formed for Upcoming Talks

In comments this weekend, the president emphasized that genuine or "dignified" resolution depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said they will hold 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 Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined 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 enshrines the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Public Views in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Nayyem, a public figure who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan came from 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. 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.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered very little 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 remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals 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 vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Officials Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin called it 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" would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. A critical juncture for the European Union."