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Former President Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan constituted "not my final offer", after intense reaction from Ukraine's leaders and commentators who compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During short comments at the White House, Trump told reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Various Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Geneva this Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators informed the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the details of the leaked plan. He said, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but rather reflected Russian desires, as reported by independent Maine senator Angus King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Time Limit

However, Trump has set Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede land under its control to Russia, reduce its military forces, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country confronts an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and losing key ally like the United States. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Upcoming Talks

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that genuine or respectable peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and security council official Rustem Umerov, said there would be consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting 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."

International Response and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it requires "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan came from the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, Nayyem expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. This offended those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and maintained 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 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 noted.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Leaders Condemn the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Marin described it as a catastrophe, 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 could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition of an appeaser 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."