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Former President Trump remarked on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, after strong reaction from Ukraine's leaders and analysts who likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments 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, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Talks Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss this proposal. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, US senators told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the nature 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.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Time Limit

Nevertheless, Trump has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. It calls on Ukraine to give up land it currently controls to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future between keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Delegation Formed for Upcoming Meetings

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

Another member from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

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."

Global Reaction and Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear that he will not surrender the nation's independence or abandon a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council issued a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, saying it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved regarding certain clauses, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. The agreement offered "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a crucial source of military intelligence for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

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

While speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She said that Ukraine ought to consider to give away certain regions temporarily if it meant 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 roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine 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.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement 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."