🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald Trump stated on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted proposal for peace was "not my final offer", after strong reaction from Ukraine's leaders and commentators that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

In brief remarks at the White House, Trump informed journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Include Various Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Switzerland on Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in the talks there.

Prior to the talks, US senators informed the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Time Limit

Nevertheless, the former president has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. The document requires Ukraine to cede territory under its control to Russia, downsize its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre address last Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that Ukraine faces a difficult decision over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and losing a major partner like the United States. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Formed for Geneva Meetings

Speaking this weekend, the president emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, established through a decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said there would be consultations with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting red lines, Umerov noted: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This is another stage of the dialogue that has been ongoing in recent days and is primarily aimed at aligning our vision for the next steps."

International Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to participate positively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard the constitutional framework that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration opposing Trump’s plan, stating it needs further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Public Views in Ukraine's Capital

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

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal came from a similar category, 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. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro 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. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, 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 Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. It belongs to Ukraine." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Leaders Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."