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Former President Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, after intense backlash from Ukraine's officials and commentators who likened it to the Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Hitler.

During short 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, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Talks Involve Multiple Countries

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

Ahead of the talks, US senators told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Switzerland to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator Angus King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Crucial Time Limit

Nevertheless, Trump has set Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to give up land under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving its national dignity and forfeiting key ally like the United States. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Appointed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a delegation, established by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and national security council secretary Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

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

Global Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or disregard the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it requires "additional work". It said that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators argued it was a blueprint 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 invited parallels 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".

In a Facebook post, he expressed his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended those who sought shelter in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded very little in the proposed deal and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. 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 rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

A different commuter, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" without American support. "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 said that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider to give away certain regions for a limited time if it ensured keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Officials Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin described it as a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."