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Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared peace plan constituted "not my final offer", after intense reaction from Ukraine's officials and analysts who compared it to the Munich pact of 1938 between Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments from the White House, the US president told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, in any case we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Involve Various Nations

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Geneva this Sunday for discussions on the plan. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in the talks there.

Ahead of the talks, US senators told media outlets that Secretary of State Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. He said, the proposal "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator Angus King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Crucial Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Meetings

In comments on Saturday, the president emphasized that genuine or "dignified" resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

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

International Reaction and Concerns

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it requires "additional work". It said that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to a similar category, where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, he expressed his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded very little in the proposed deal and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he added. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource 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, teenager Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient 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 forecasted he would not cede territory.

Speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Ivanovna said her appreciation to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She said that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she said.

European Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She warned 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, referenced Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". 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."