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Former President Trump stated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, after strong backlash from Ukrainian officials and analysts that compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief remarks at the White House, Trump informed journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Geneva Negotiations Involve Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in the talks there.

Prior to these discussions, US senators told 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, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Time Limit

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede territory under its control to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. It also rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice over the coming days involving preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Geneva Meetings

In comments on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a delegation, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said there would be consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at limits, he 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."

International Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it requires "additional work". It said that EU and Nato members must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Commentators said it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, 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. It was an insult those who sought shelter in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – 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, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered "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 remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." 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, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation ought to consider ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Officials Criticize the Proposal

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."