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Ex-leader Donald Trump remarked on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted "not my final offer", after intense criticism from Ukraine's officials and analysts who likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments from the White House, Trump told reporters: Our goal is to achieve peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Include Multiple Countries

Ukrainian and American delegates are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, American lawmakers told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to cede land under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that his country faces an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Dialogue 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 delegation, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said there would be consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting red lines, Umerov noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

Global Response and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has attempted to participate positively with the US administration apparently intent to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a joint statement opposing Trump’s plan, stating it needs "additional work". The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Public Views in Ukraine's Capital

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. 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, Nayyem expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded "barely anything" 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 remarked.

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 vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Diverse Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, said 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 expressed that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Ivanovna said her appreciation to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation ought to consider ceding certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Leaders Criticize the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He continued: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."