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Former President Trump indicated this past weekend that his Russian-prepared peace plan was "not my final offer", after strong criticism from Ukrainian leaders and analysts who likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief comments at the White House, the US president told journalists: 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."

Upcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Various Countries

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

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers informed the press that State Department head Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead reflected Russian desires, according to independent Maine senator King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Crucial Time Limit

Nevertheless, the former president has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede territory under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that his country confronts an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving its national dignity and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Talks

Speaking this weekend, Zelenskyy emphasized that genuine or respectable peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and national security council secretary Umerov, said there would be consultations with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at red lines, Umerov added: "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

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

During a summit in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives released a collective declaration opposing Trump’s plan, saying it needs further refinement. The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Ukraine's Capital

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, drawn up by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, Nayyem expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine over many years. It conceded "barely anything" in the proposed deal and maintained troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

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 Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Varied Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, teenager 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. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not cede territory.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She said that the nation should be ready ceding certain regions temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she said.

EU Officials Criticize the Proposal

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". 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."