Donald Trump Says Peace Plan Is Not 'Final Offer' as Delegates Gather for Geneva Summit

Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that his Russian-prepared proposal for peace was "not my final offer", after fierce backlash from Ukraine's leaders and commentators who compared it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

In brief remarks at the White House, Trump told 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 Switzerland Negotiations Involve Various Nations

US and Ukrainian delegates will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss this proposal. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, American lawmakers told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Switzerland to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. According to him, the proposal did not originate from the administration but instead reflected Russian desires, as reported by independent Maine senator King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Confronts Crucial Deadline

However, the former president has given Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Kyiv to give up territory it currently controls to Russia, downsize its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out a European peacekeeping force and penalties for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre speech on Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that his country faces an impossible choice in the near future involving preserving its national dignity and losing a major partner like the United States. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Appointed for Upcoming Talks

In comments on Saturday, Zelenskyy emphasized that genuine or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He announced a delegation, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and security council official Umerov, said there would be consultations with Washington regarding potential terms for a peace deal.

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

International Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with the US administration seemingly determined to end the conflict on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has made clear he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or disregard the constitutional framework that protects the country’s current borders.

At a meeting held in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a joint statement pushing back on the proposed deal, stating it needs further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Citizen Views in Ukraine's Capital

Ukrainian reaction to the text, prepared by a Russian representative and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Commentators said it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it invited parallels with the Munich Agreement. Trumps’s peace plan came from the same "recognisable genre", where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, he expressed his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult those who sought shelter in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine over many years. It conceded very little in the proposed deal and maintained its forces on Ukrainian soil. "I think the deal is an attempt to break Ukraine and force unjust conditions on us," he remarked.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he added. If rejected, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a crucial source of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he remarked.

Varied Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, teenager Sofia Barchan, said that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking in the rain, near a historical monument, Ivanovna said she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She said that the nation should be ready ceding certain regions temporarily if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Officials Condemn the Proposal

Previous European leaders have strongly criticized this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Sanna Marin described it as a disaster, affecting not just Ukraine but for democracies worldwide. She said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – further hostilities would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."