🔗 Share this article

Former President Trump remarked on Saturday that his Moscow-drafted proposal for peace constituted "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukrainian officials and analysts that likened it to the Munich pact of 1938 between Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief remarks 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 we have to get it ended."

Forthcoming Geneva Negotiations Involve Various Countries

US and Ukrainian officials will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss this proposal. Defense representatives from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in the talks there.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators informed media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. He said, this plan "was not the administration’s plan" but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by Senator King, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Critical Deadline

However, Trump has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing the 28-point document. It calls on Kyiv to cede land it currently controls to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and relinquish long-range weapons. Additionally, it excludes international peacekeepers and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice over the coming days involving preserving the nation's honor and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukraine's Dialogue Delegation Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking this weekend, the president said that genuine or respectable peace was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said they will hold consultations with the US regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

Suggesting red lines, he added: "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."

International Reaction and Criticism

Zelenskyy has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to end the conflict based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard a constitution that protects the country’s current borders.

During a summit held in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it requires further refinement. It said that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, which rule out Kyiv’s Nato membership and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and a US delegate, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician who led the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan belonged to the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. 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 deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

Speaking in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Russia had been trying to dominate Ukraine over many years. The agreement offered "barely anything" in the proposed deal and continued to keep troops in Ukraine. "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 sacrifice its liberties, he said. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, 19-year-old Sofia Barchan, said that the country would "keep strong" without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna said she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that the nation should be ready to give away certain regions temporarily if it meant maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Officials Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Ex-PM of Finland Marin described it as a catastrophe, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill of an appeaser 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."