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Ex-leader Trump indicated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", following strong criticism from Ukraine's officials and commentators who compared it to the Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief comments from the White House, the US president informed reporters: "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 it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Various Countries

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

Prior to these discussions, US senators informed media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Time Limit

Nevertheless, the former president has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede land it currently controls to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision over the coming days involving preserving the nation's honor 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 Talks

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that genuine or "dignified" peace depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, established through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

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

Hinting at limits, Umerov 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

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or disregard the constitutional framework that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration opposing Trump’s plan, saying it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Citizen Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, he expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". It conceded very little in the Trump agreement 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 it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If rejected, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not cede territory.

While speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation should be ready to give away 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.

EU Leaders Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "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."