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Ex-leader Trump indicated on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", after fierce backlash from Ukraine's leaders and commentators that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During short remarks at the White House, Trump told reporters: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Involve Various Countries

US and Ukrainian delegates are scheduled to meet in Geneva this Sunday to discuss this proposal. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers informed the press that State Department head Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator Angus King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to cede territory it currently controls to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and surrender long-range weapons. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre address on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future between preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Formed for Geneva Talks

In comments this weekend, the president said that genuine or "dignified" resolution depends on assured safety and fairness. He announced a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by top aide Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, 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

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, saying it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Analysts said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, 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 outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, he said his anger 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 families of deported children to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". It conceded "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he said.

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 crucial source of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, said that Ukraine would remain resilient 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 forecasted 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 Ukraine ought to consider to give away certain regions temporarily if it meant keeping America as a partner. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Officials Criticize the Proposal

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, 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. A critical juncture for the European Union."