🔗 Share this article

Former President Trump indicated this past weekend that his Moscow-drafted peace plan constituted not his ultimate proposal, following intense reaction from Ukrainian officials and analysts that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments at the White House, the US president informed journalists: Our goal is to achieve peace. This should have occurred earlier … we’re trying to get it ended, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Geneva this Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in these negotiations there.

Prior to the talks, American lawmakers told media outlets that Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather reflected Russian desires, as reported by Senator Angus King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

However, Trump has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Kyiv to cede land under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and relinquish advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out international peacekeepers and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine faces an impossible choice in the near future involving keeping the nation's honor and losing key ally in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Formed for Upcoming Talks

In comments on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that genuine or "dignified" peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, which will meet American representatives in Geneva, led by his chief of staff Yermak.

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

Suggesting red lines, he 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."

Global Response and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and EU representatives issued a joint statement opposing the proposed deal, saying it needs further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Commentators said it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure who led Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan revolution, said it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, he said he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – sites of civilian executions – and families of deported children to Russian territory. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro 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. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he said.

Should Ukraine accept the terms Kyiv would be forced to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of military intelligence for frontline Ukrainian troops. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Diverse Viewpoints from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. It belongs to Ukraine." She expressed that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region for a limited time if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Leaders Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, 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 – further hostilities could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."