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Former President Donald Trump remarked this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, following fierce backlash from Ukrainian officials and commentators that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments at the White House, Trump 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 Switzerland Negotiations Include Multiple Countries

US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday for discussions on the plan. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, American lawmakers informed the press that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland for clarification on the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather reflected Russian desires, as reported by Senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede land under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. It also rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice over the coming days involving preserving its national dignity and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, the president emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, established through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff 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 regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at limits, Umerov noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

Global Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized 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, G20 leaders and the European Council issued a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to a similar category, with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

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

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, 21, commented that Russia has attempted to dominate Ukraine over many years. The agreement offered very little in the proposed deal and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he said.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Diverse Viewpoints from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, said that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. "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 Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not cede territory.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation should be ready ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it ensured maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

EU Officials Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."