🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that his Moscow-drafted proposal for peace was "not my final offer", after fierce backlash from Ukrainian leaders and analysts who compared it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief remarks at the White House, Trump informed 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 it must be resolved."

Upcoming Switzerland Negotiations Involve Various Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Geneva this Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join these negotiations in Geneva.

Prior to these discussions, American lawmakers informed media outlets that State Department head Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland for clarification on the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan 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.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Deadline

However, the former president has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. It calls on Kyiv to cede territory it currently controls to Russia, reduce the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. It also excludes international peacekeepers and penalties for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that his country confronts a difficult decision in the near future involving preserving its national dignity and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that it faces an extremely challenging period in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Talks

In comments this weekend, the president said that genuine or "dignified" resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a delegation, established through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

A additional delegate from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated they will hold consultations with the US "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

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

Global Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to participate positively with a White House apparently intent to resolve the war based on Russian conditions. He has emphasized that he will not surrender Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon a constitution that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit held in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a joint statement opposing the proposed deal, stating it requires further refinement. It said that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Public Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, drawn up by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Analysts said it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

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

In a Facebook post, Nayyem expressed he was outraged by its "full" amnesty for Russian war crimes. It was an insult people who had hidden in basements in Bucha or Mariupol – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and families of deported children to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Moscow has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". The agreement offered very little in the proposed deal and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he said.

If Zelenskyy signed off on the proposals it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he said. If rejected, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a crucial source of military intelligence for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Diverse Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient lacking US backing. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking in the rain, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to Trump for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that the nation ought to consider 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 Criticize the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Marin called it a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as "one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last". He added: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."