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Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", after strong backlash from Ukraine's officials and commentators who likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During short remarks from the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers told the press that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator Angus King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Time Limit

However, Trump has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. It calls on Ukraine to cede territory under its control to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. It also excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice in the near future between keeping its national dignity and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments on Saturday, the president said that real or "dignified" resolution depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, stated there would be consultations with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at 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 Reaction and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with a White House apparently intent to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives issued a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating 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 European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, drawn up by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators said it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, Nayyem said his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded very little 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 Kyiv would be forced to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If rejected, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a crucial source of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Varied Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She said that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Leaders Criticize the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine 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, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser 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. A critical juncture for the European Union."