🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan was "not my final offer", after fierce reaction from Ukraine's officials and analysts that likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 between Chamberlain and Hitler.

In short comments from 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, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Switzerland Negotiations Include Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Switzerland on Sunday to discuss the plan. Defense representatives from France, Britain and Germany are expected to join the talks there.

Prior to the talks, US senators informed media outlets that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them while en route to Switzerland to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, the proposal "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.

Zelenskyy Confronts Critical Time Limit

Nevertheless, Trump has set Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday for signing the 28-point document. The document requires Ukraine to cede territory it currently controls to Russia, downsize the size of its army, and relinquish advanced weaponry. It also excludes international peacekeepers and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn speech on Friday, Zelenskyy warned that his country confronts a difficult decision over the coming days involving preserving the nation's honor and forfeiting a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments in its history.

Ukrainian Negotiating Team Appointed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that genuine or "dignified" peace depends on "guaranteed security and justice". He revealed a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Andriy Yermak.

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

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

Global Reaction and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has sought to participate positively 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 abandon a constitution that enshrines the country’s current borders.

At a meeting in South Africa, G20 leaders and the European Council released a collective declaration opposing the proposed deal, stating it requires "additional work". The statement indicated that EU and Nato members would need to be consulted regarding certain clauses, which rule out Ukraine's NATO accession and put conditions on its future EU accession.

Public Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the proposal, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for further Russian aggression: targeting not just Ukraine but other European regions as well.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, said it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. Trumps’s peace plan came from a similar category, with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, he said his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. 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 Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, said that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially "for 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 said.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to give up its freedoms, he said. If rejected, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of battlefield information for frontline Ukrainian troops. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Perspectives from the Public

Another passenger, 19-year-old Barchan, said that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She said that the president is intelligent and forecasted he would not cede territory.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested 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 Officials Criticize 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 "all of the democratic world". She warned if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – further hostilities could arise.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced a statement by Churchill regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He added: Trump aligns with Putin. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."