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Ex-leader Trump indicated on Saturday that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted not his ultimate proposal, after strong backlash from Ukraine's leaders and commentators who compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In short comments from the White House, Trump told journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Switzerland Negotiations Involve Multiple Nations

US and Ukrainian officials will meet in Geneva on Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to the talks, US senators informed media outlets that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva for clarification on the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has set Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede territory it currently controls to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice over the coming days involving keeping the nation's honor and forfeiting key ally like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Delegation Appointed for Geneva Talks

Speaking this weekend, the president emphasized that real or respectable peace depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, appointed by presidential decree, which will meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by top aide Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said they will hold discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, 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

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that protects 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 the proposed deal, stating it requires "additional work". The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Public Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to a similar category, where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Moscow has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and maintained troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a crucial source of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "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 forecasted he would not cede territory.

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

EU Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."