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Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted "not my final offer", following fierce reaction from Ukraine's leaders and commentators who compared it to a 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief remarks from 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, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Involve Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators told the press that Secretary of State Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the nature of this disclosed proposal. According to him, the proposal did not originate from the administration but rather reflected Russian desires, according to Senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to give up land it currently controls to Moscow, downsize the size of its army, and surrender advanced weaponry. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that his country confronts a difficult decision over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Dialogue Team Formed for Geneva Meetings

In comments on Saturday, the president emphasized that real or respectable peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, established by presidential decree, which will meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Umerov, said they will hold consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, Umerov added: "Ukraine approaches this process with a clear understanding of its interests. 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."

Global Response and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively with the US administration seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it needs further refinement. It said that EU and Nato members must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its European Union membership.

Public Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators said it was a blueprint for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure who led the 2014 Maidan protests, said it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

On social media, Nayyem said 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 Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. The agreement offered very little in the proposed deal and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. 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 rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She said that Ukraine should be ready to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

European Leaders Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. A critical juncture for the European Union."