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Former President Trump indicated on Saturday that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace constituted not his ultimate proposal, after fierce reaction from Ukrainian officials and analysts who likened it to a 1938 Munich agreement between Chamberlain and Hitler.

In brief comments at the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Involve Various Countries

US and Ukrainian officials will 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, US senators informed the press that State Department head Rubio contacted them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the nature of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Crucial Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. It calls on Ukraine to give up territory it currently controls to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. It also excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre address on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice over the coming days involving preserving its national dignity and forfeiting key ally like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Formed for Geneva Meetings

Speaking this weekend, the president emphasized that genuine or respectable peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, which will meet American representatives in Geneva, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

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

Suggesting limits, 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 Reaction and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has attempted to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it requires further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to a similar category, with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed he was outraged 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 for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. 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 might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Diverse Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. 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.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna said her appreciation to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it ensured maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Leaders Condemn the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, 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 – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."