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Former President Trump stated on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, following strong reaction from Ukraine's leaders and commentators who likened it to the Munich pact of 1938 between Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief remarks at the White House, Trump informed journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Include Various Nations

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland on Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in the talks there.

Ahead of the talks, American lawmakers informed the press that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland to clarify the nature of this disclosed proposal. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but instead reflected Russian desires, as reported by Senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Crucial Deadline

Nevertheless, Trump has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. It calls on Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address last Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that his country confronts an impossible choice in the near future between preserving its national dignity and losing key ally like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Talks

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and security council official Umerov, said there would be consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting red lines, he added: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. 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 Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender the nation's independence or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a collective declaration opposing the proposed deal, saying it requires further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, drawn up by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators said it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. 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".

On social media, Nayyem said he was outraged 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 for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered very little in the proposed deal 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 give up its freedoms, he said. 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 remarked.

Diverse Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She said that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Leaders Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy 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 faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."