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Ex-leader Trump remarked this past weekend that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, after fierce backlash from Ukraine's officials and analysts that likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief remarks at the White House, Trump informed journalists: "We’d like to get to 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 Include Multiple Countries

Ukrainian and American officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday for discussions on the plan. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations there.

Ahead of these discussions, American lawmakers told the press that State Department head Rubio contacted them while en route to Switzerland for clarification on the details of this disclosed proposal. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator Angus King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. It also excludes international peacekeepers and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre address on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future involving preserving the nation's honor and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukraine's Dialogue Team Formed for Upcoming Talks

Speaking on Saturday, the president said that real or respectable peace was always based on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by top aide Yermak.

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

Suggesting red lines, he 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 resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives issued a collective declaration opposing Trump’s plan, stating it requires "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he stated.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. It conceded "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and maintained troops in Ukraine. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a crucial source of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Diverse Viewpoints from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. It belongs to Ukraine." She said that the president is intelligent and predicted 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 said that the nation should be ready to give away certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Leaders Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin called it a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."