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Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace was not his ultimate proposal, after fierce backlash from Ukraine's leaders and analysts who compared it to the Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments from the White House, Trump informed reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Involve Various Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join the talks in Geneva.

Prior to the talks, US senators informed media outlets that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them while en route to Geneva for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by independent Maine senator Angus King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has given Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Ukraine to cede territory it currently controls to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that his country confronts a difficult decision over the coming days between keeping its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. He admitted that it faces one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Geneva Talks

Speaking this weekend, the president said that real or respectable peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, appointed through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, Umerov noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

Global Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up 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 the European Council released a joint statement opposing the proposed deal, stating it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. 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 said he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult those who sought shelter in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many 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.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he noted.

Diverse Viewpoints from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Barchan, asserted that the country 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 said that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Ivanovna said she was grateful to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it ensured keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Leaders Condemn the Plan

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."