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Former President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted "not my final offer", after intense backlash from Ukrainian officials and analysts who likened it to the Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During short comments from 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."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Involve Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday for discussions on the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations 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 details of this disclosed proposal. He said, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but rather reflected Russian desires, according to Senator King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

However, Trump has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to give up land under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and relinquish advanced weaponry. It also rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country confronts an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. He admitted that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Team Formed for Geneva Talks

Speaking on Saturday, the president emphasized that real or "dignified" peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He announced a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, led by top aide Yermak.

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

Hinting at red lines, he 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 Reaction and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon the constitutional framework that protects the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it requires "additional work". It said that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a public figure who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, he expressed his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. It conceded very little in the proposed deal and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. We will continue our struggle as needed. 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 give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider to give away certain regions temporarily if it meant keeping America as a partner. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Officials Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, 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 would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. A critical juncture for the European Union."