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Former President Trump indicated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", after fierce backlash from Ukrainian officials and commentators who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief comments at the White House, the US president informed journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Include Various Nations

US and Ukrainian delegates are scheduled to meet in Geneva on 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, American lawmakers informed media outlets that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead reflected Russian desires, as reported by independent Maine senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Time Limit

Nevertheless, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to cede territory under its control to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice in the near future between preserving the nation's honor and losing key ally in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Geneva Talks

In comments this weekend, the president emphasized that real or respectable peace was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Geneva, led by top aide Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, 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 limits, Umerov added: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

International Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to participate positively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it needs further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Public Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators said it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons 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.

On social media, he said he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the proposed deal and maintained troops in Ukraine. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. 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 Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. "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 cede territory.

Speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

EU Officials Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

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