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Former President Donald Trump remarked on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted peace plan was "not my final offer", after intense reaction from Ukraine's leaders and analysts who likened it to the Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief remarks at the White House, the US president told reporters: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva this Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join the talks in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, US senators told the press that Secretary of State Rubio contacted them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator Angus King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Time Limit

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. The document requires Ukraine to cede land under its control to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that his country faces an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a delegation, established by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at red lines, Umerov noted: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

Global Response and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives released a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, saying it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: 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 Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan 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 expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. 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 might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of military intelligence for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not cede territory.

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 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 proposed.

EU Officials Criticize the Proposal

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

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."