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Ex-leader Donald Trump remarked this past weekend that his Russian-prepared peace plan constituted "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukraine's officials and commentators who likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short remarks at the White House, the US president told reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Involve Various Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, American lawmakers informed media outlets that Secretary of State Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator Angus King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Critical Time Limit

Nevertheless, Trump has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to give up land under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine faces a difficult decision over the coming days between keeping its national dignity and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Dialogue Delegation Appointed for Upcoming Talks

Speaking this weekend, the president emphasized that real or "dignified" resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, led by top aide Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said they will hold discussions with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Hinting at red lines, he added: 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."

International Response and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, saying it requires "additional work". 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.

Public Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Russia has attempted to dominate Ukraine 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.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient 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 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, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She said that Ukraine ought to consider to give away certain regions for a limited time if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Leaders Condemn the Plan

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."