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Former President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", after intense reaction from Ukrainian leaders and analysts who likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short remarks from the White House, the US president told reporters: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, in any case we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Include Various Nations

US and Ukrainian delegates are scheduled to meet in Switzerland on Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in the talks there.

Ahead of these discussions, American lawmakers informed media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the nature of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather reflected Russian desires, according to independent Maine senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Critical Time Limit

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Russia, reduce its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. It also excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address last Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine 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 Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Upcoming Talks

In comments on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or "dignified" peace was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a delegation, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by top aide Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold consultations with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting red lines, Umerov added: 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."

Global Reaction and Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a joint statement opposing Trump’s plan, stating it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

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

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure 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 a similar category, with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and continued to keep 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 would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

Another passenger, 19-year-old 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. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation should be ready to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it ensured keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Leaders Condemn the Proposal

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland 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 – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, 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."