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Former President Donald Trump remarked on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, after strong criticism from Ukraine's officials and analysts who likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Chamberlain and Hitler.

In brief comments from the White House, Trump told reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Multiple Countries

US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in the talks there.

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers told the press that Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede territory under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country confronts an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments on Saturday, the president emphasized that real or respectable peace depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Umerov, stated there would be discussions with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting red lines, Umerov added: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. 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 Response and Concerns

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council issued a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it needs further refinement. The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

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

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

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. "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 sacrifice its liberties, he added. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

A different commuter, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation should be ready ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it ensured keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

EU Leaders Criticize the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin called it a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."