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Ex-leader Donald Trump remarked on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted peace plan was "not my final offer", following fierce reaction from Ukraine's leaders and analysts who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief comments at the White House, Trump informed journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, in any case we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Involve Multiple Nations

US and Ukrainian delegates will meet in Switzerland on Sunday for discussions on the plan. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK are expected to join these negotiations there.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators informed the press that Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the nature of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather reflected Russian desires, as reported by Senator King, a member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, Trump has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to give up land it currently controls to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping its national dignity and forfeiting key ally in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is experiencing an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Dialogue Team Appointed for Geneva Meetings

Speaking this weekend, Zelenskyy emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a delegation, appointed through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and security council official Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

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

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has made clear he cannot give up the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s plan, saying it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO 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.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, Nayyem said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. This offended people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Russia has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, 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 noted.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. 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.

While speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation should be ready ceding certain regions temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Officials Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition 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."