🔗 Share this article

Former President Trump remarked on Saturday that the Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", following strong criticism from Ukrainian officials and analysts that likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief remarks at the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Switzerland Talks Include Various Countries

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

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Geneva for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, the proposal did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to independent Maine senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede land under its control to Moscow, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision in the near future involving keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking this weekend, Zelenskyy emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, said they will hold consultations with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at limits, he 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

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard the constitutional framework that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a collective declaration opposing the proposed deal, saying it needs further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, prepared by a Russian representative 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.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, remarked it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said he was outraged by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. This offended those who sought shelter in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, 21, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. The agreement offered "barely anything" in the proposed deal and maintained troops in Ukraine. 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 sacrifice its liberties, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would "keep strong" without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time 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 strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" 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 must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."