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Former President Trump remarked this past weekend that his Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, after intense reaction from Ukrainian leaders and commentators who likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief comments from the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Various Countries

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss this proposal. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, US senators told the press that Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Switzerland to clarify the nature of this disclosed proposal. He said, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Critical Time Limit

However, the former president has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Moscow, downsize the size of its army, and relinquish long-range weapons. It also rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country faces an impossible choice over the coming days between keeping its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Dialogue Team Formed for Upcoming Talks

Speaking this weekend, the president said that genuine or "dignified" peace was always based on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at limits, Umerov noted: 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."

International Reaction and Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that protects the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a joint statement opposing Trump’s plan, saying it needs further refinement. It said that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

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 another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. The proposal belonged to a similar category, with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, he expressed he was outraged 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 Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". It conceded "barely anything" 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 said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he said. If rejected, 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 remarked.

Diverse Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, said that the country would remain resilient lacking US backing. "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.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Officials Criticize the Proposal

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin called it a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. A critical juncture for the European Union."