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Former President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted peace plan was "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukrainian leaders and commentators that likened it to the Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief remarks at the White House, the US president told journalists: 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 we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Involve Multiple Nations

US and Ukrainian delegates will meet in Geneva this Sunday for discussions on the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join the talks there.

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Crucial Time Limit

Nevertheless, Trump has set Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to give up land under its control to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine faces a difficult decision over the coming days between keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Appointed for Geneva Meetings

In comments this weekend, Zelenskyy said that genuine or respectable peace was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and security council official Rustem Umerov, said they will hold consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at 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 seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon a constitution that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration opposing Trump’s plan, stating it requires further refinement. It said that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Public Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, he said his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine over many years. It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, said that the country 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 Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, 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 said that Ukraine ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Officials Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill of an appeaser 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."