Donald Trump Says Peace Plan Isn't 'Final Offer' as Officials Gather for Swiss Talks

Ex-leader Donald Trump stated on Saturday that the Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, after fierce backlash from Ukraine's leaders and commentators that likened it to a 1938 Munich agreement involving Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In short remarks at the White House, the US president 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 we have to get it ended."

Upcoming Geneva Talks Involve Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American delegates will meet in Switzerland this Sunday for discussions on the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, American lawmakers told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Geneva to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Deadline

However, Trump has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. It calls on Ukraine to cede territory it currently controls to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn address on Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukraine's Dialogue Delegation Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or "dignified" resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, appointed through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, led by top aide Andriy Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, stated there would be discussions with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at red lines, he noted: "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

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration opposing the proposed deal, stating it needs further refinement. The statement indicated that members of the EU and NATO must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

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

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to a similar category, where the affected party is asked to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, a young adult, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". The agreement offered "barely anything" in the Trump agreement and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he said. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country would remain resilient without American support. "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 that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready to give away certain regions for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

European Leaders Criticize the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Marin called it a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted 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."