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Ex-leader Trump remarked on Saturday that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukrainian officials and analysts that likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief comments at the White House, Trump informed journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, in any case we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Include Multiple Countries

US and Ukrainian officials will meet in Switzerland this Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, American lawmakers informed the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Deadline

However, Trump has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede land it currently controls to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine faces a difficult decision over the coming days involving preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. He admitted that it faces one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Formed for Upcoming Talks

Speaking on Saturday, the president said that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, appointed by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and security council official Umerov, said there would be consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at limits, Umerov added: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

International Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives released a joint statement opposing the proposed deal, stating it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, he said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – 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 a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the proposed deal 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 sacrifice its liberties, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Diverse Viewpoints from the Public

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient lacking US backing. 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 cede territory.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna said she was grateful to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She said that Ukraine should be ready to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she said.

EU Leaders Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition of an appeaser 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."