🔗 Share this article

Former President Trump indicated this past weekend that the Moscow-drafted peace plan was "not my final offer", after intense reaction from Ukraine's officials and analysts that compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During short remarks from the White House, the US president informed reporters: 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 Geneva Talks Involve Various Nations

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

Prior to the talks, US senators informed the press that State Department head Rubio contacted them while en route to Geneva for clarification on the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, the proposal did not originate from the administration but rather reflected Russian desires, as reported by independent Maine senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Deadline

Nevertheless, Trump has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign this multi-point agreement. It calls on Kyiv to give up land under its control to Moscow, downsize its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. It also excludes a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

During a solemn speech on Friday, Zelenskyy cautioned that his country faces a difficult decision in the near future involving keeping its national dignity and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukraine's Negotiating Team Appointed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking this weekend, Zelenskyy said that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, appointed by presidential decree, that would soon meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by top aide Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Umerov, said they will hold discussions with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Hinting at limits, Umerov 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."

International Reaction and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has attempted to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has made clear that he will not surrender the nation's independence or disregard the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a collective declaration pushing back on Trump’s plan, stating it needs "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO must be involved on some of its provisions, that exclude Kyiv’s Nato membership and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Citizen Opinion in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, has been overwhelmingly hostile. Commentators said it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: 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 drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. The proposal belonged to the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

In a Facebook post, Nayyem said his anger by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

Speaking in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow has attempted to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for years". It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and maintained troops in Ukraine. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals 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 noted.

Diverse Perspectives from the Public

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. They are Ukrainian land." She said that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She said that Ukraine should be ready to give away Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it ensured keeping America as a partner. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

European Leaders Condemn the Proposal

Former European heads of state have strongly criticized the plan. Ex-PM of Finland Marin described it as a catastrophe, 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.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, quoted Churchill’s definition of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."