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Former President Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", following intense criticism from Ukraine's leaders and analysts who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief comments at the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Switzerland Negotiations Involve Multiple Countries

US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday for discussions on the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in the talks there.

Prior to these discussions, US senators told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead reflected Russian desires, according to independent Maine senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Deadline

However, the former president has given Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. It calls on Ukraine to cede territory it currently controls to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country confronts an impossible choice in the near future between preserving its national dignity and losing key ally like the United States. He admitted that it faces one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukraine's Dialogue Team Appointed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, appointed through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and security council official Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting limits, he noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

International Reaction and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has attempted to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it needs further refinement. The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Ukraine's Capital

Ukrainian reaction to the text, drawn up by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited "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. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. "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 added. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. It belongs to Ukraine." She expressed that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She said that the nation ought to consider to give away certain regions temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Officials Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Marin called it a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."