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Former President Donald Trump remarked this past weekend that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, after fierce backlash from Ukrainian officials and analysts who compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief remarks at the White House, the US president 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 Switzerland Negotiations Involve Various Nations

US and Ukrainian delegates will meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in the talks in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, US senators told the press that Secretary of State Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by independent Maine senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, Trump has given Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede territory under its control to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and surrender advanced weaponry. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country faces a difficult decision in the near future between preserving its national dignity and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Appointed for Upcoming Meetings

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated there would be discussions with the US "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."

Global Response and Concerns

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with the US administration apparently intent to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear that he will not surrender the nation's independence or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives issued a collective declaration opposing the proposed deal, stating it requires "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a public figure who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. The agreement offered very little in the proposed deal and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he said. If rejected, 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 Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, teenager Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

While speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She said that Ukraine should be ready ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Officials Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin called it a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for "all of the democratic world". She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, quoted 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 faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."