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Ex-leader Trump stated this past weekend that his Russian-prepared peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, following fierce backlash from Ukrainian officials and analysts that likened it to a 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During short comments from the White House, the US president 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."

Upcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Multiple Countries

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday for discussions on the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in the talks in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, US senators informed the press that Secretary of State Rubio contacted them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather reflected Russian desires, according to Senator Angus King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Deadline

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Ukraine to give up territory under its control to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address last Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Talks

Speaking this weekend, the president emphasized that genuine or "dignified" resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and national security council secretary Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, he noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. 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 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 that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council issued a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, saying it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, drawn up by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, said it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal came from a similar category, with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, he expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. It conceded "barely anything" in the proposed deal and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, said that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna said her appreciation to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "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."