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Former President Donald Trump remarked on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted proposal for peace was "not my final offer", following fierce criticism from Ukrainian officials and analysts who compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Chamberlain and Hitler.

During short comments at the White House, the US president told journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Include Various Countries

US and Ukrainian delegates will meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss this proposal. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in these negotiations in Geneva.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. It calls on Ukraine to cede land under its control to Russia, reduce its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and losing key ally in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Talks

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable resolution depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting 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."

International Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, saying it needs "additional work". 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 European Union membership.

Public Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in 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 outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, he said his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine over many years. It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and maintained troops in Ukraine. "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 rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. 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 cede territory.

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 peace-making efforts. She said that the nation ought to consider to give away certain regions temporarily if it ensured keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Officials Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized 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 warned if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill of an appeaser 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."