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Former President Trump remarked on Saturday that the Russian-prepared peace plan constituted "not my final offer", following intense backlash from Ukraine's leaders and analysts that likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief comments from the White House, the US president told reporters: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Involve Multiple Countries

US and Ukrainian delegates will meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss 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 Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Geneva to clarify the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead reflected Russian desires, according to Senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Time Limit

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing the 28-point document. It calls on Ukraine to give up land it currently controls to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address on Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that his country confronts a difficult decision in the near future between preserving the nation's honor and losing 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 said that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, headed by top aide Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold discussions with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting red lines, he noted: "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."

Global Response and Concerns

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 made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives issued a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, saying it needs "additional work". It said that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Analysts said it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan came from 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, he expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in affected cities – 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, 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 Trump agreement and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. 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 added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "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 predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she said.

European Leaders Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities would follow.

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