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Former President Donald Trump remarked this past weekend that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", following intense backlash from Ukrainian officials and commentators who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short remarks from the White House, the US president told reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Involve Various Nations

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, US senators told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Geneva to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Time Limit

However, Trump has given Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to give up land under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that his country faces an impossible choice over the coming days involving keeping the nation's honor and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Formed for Upcoming Talks

In comments this weekend, the president said that real or "dignified" resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a delegation, established by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said there would be consultations with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting limits, 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

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives released a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it requires "additional work". The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Public Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Commentators said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it invited parallels 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, he said his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. This offended people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. It conceded "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and maintained troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he said. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Diverse Viewpoints from the Public

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

While speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader 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 maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Leaders Criticize the Proposal

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, 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."