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Ex-leader Donald Trump remarked on Saturday that the Russian-prepared peace plan was "not my final offer", after strong backlash from Ukraine's officials and analysts that likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief comments from the White House, Trump told reporters: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Geneva Talks Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join the talks there.

Prior to the talks, US senators informed the press that State Department head Rubio contacted them while en route to Geneva to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

However, the former president has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. It calls on Kyiv to give up territory under its control to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision over the coming days between keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Delegation Appointed for Geneva Meetings

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and security council official Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold discussions with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting limits, he noted: 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."

International Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, drawn up by a Russian representative and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Nayyem, a public figure who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, he said he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. 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 concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Russia has attempted to dominate Ukraine over many years. The agreement offered very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he said.

Should Ukraine accept the terms Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he said. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, 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

A different commuter, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that the country 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 expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not cede territory.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider to give away certain regions temporarily if it ensured keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Officials Criticize the Proposal

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. A critical juncture for the European Union."