🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace was not his ultimate proposal, after strong reaction from Ukraine's leaders and commentators who compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In brief comments at the White House, Trump informed journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Switzerland Talks Involve Various Countries

US and Ukrainian delegates are scheduled to meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join the talks there.

Prior to the talks, US senators informed the press that State Department head Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva for clarification on the nature of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Critical Time Limit

Nevertheless, Trump has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Ukraine to cede land it currently controls to Russia, downsize its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. It also rules out international peacekeepers and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn address on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that his country faces an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. He admitted that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking this weekend, the president said that genuine or "dignified" resolution depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, established by presidential decree, which will meet American representatives in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said they will hold discussions with the US 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."

International Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, saying it requires "additional work". The statement indicated 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 future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of 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 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 expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine over many years. The agreement offered "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 said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, 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 noted.

Diverse Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation ought to consider ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Leaders Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition 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."