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Former President Donald Trump stated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan was "not my final offer", following intense backlash from Ukraine's officials and analysts that compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During short comments at the White House, Trump told journalists: "We’d like to get to peace. This should have occurred earlier … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Upcoming Switzerland Talks Include Various Countries

Ukrainian and American delegates are scheduled to meet in Switzerland this Sunday to discuss this proposal. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in these negotiations there.

Ahead of these discussions, American lawmakers told media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the nature of this disclosed proposal. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Deadline

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Ukraine to give up land under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and penalties for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that his country confronts a difficult decision over the coming days between keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukraine's Negotiating Delegation Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking this weekend, the president emphasized that real or "dignified" resolution depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, ex-defense head and security council official Umerov, stated there would be discussions with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting red lines, he added: Ukraine enters these talks with defined goals. This represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

International Reaction and Criticism

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard a constitution that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a joint statement opposing the proposed deal, stating it needs "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued 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 a similar category, where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, Nayyem expressed his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported 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". It conceded "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.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a crucial source of military intelligence for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Varied Viewpoints from the Public

Another passenger, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that the country 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 during rainfall, near a historical monument, Olena Ivanovna said she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She said that the nation should be ready ceding 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.

EU Leaders Criticize the Proposal

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill 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. A critical juncture for the European Union."