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Former President Donald Trump stated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", after strong backlash from Ukraine's leaders and commentators that compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During short remarks at the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to 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."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Involve Various Countries

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss this proposal. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations in Geneva.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators informed the press that Secretary of State Rubio contacted them while en route to Geneva for clarification on the details of this disclosed proposal. According to him, the proposal did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Critical Deadline

However, Trump has set Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede land it currently controls to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre address last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice over the coming days involving keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Delegation Appointed for Upcoming Talks

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that genuine or "dignified" peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, established through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated there would be consultations with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at limits, Umerov noted: "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."

International Response and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, saying it needs "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, he said his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" 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 remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he said. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, 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

Another passenger, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader 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 meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

EU Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."