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Former President Trump indicated this past weekend that the Russian-prepared peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, after strong criticism from Ukraine's officials and commentators that compared it to a 1938 Munich agreement involving Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

During brief remarks from the White House, the US president told reporters: "We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago … we are attempting to conclude it, one way or the other it must be resolved."

Forthcoming Geneva Talks Include Various Nations

US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled to meet in Switzerland on Sunday to discuss this proposal. Security officials from Germany, France, and the UK will also participate in these negotiations there.

Ahead of the talks, American lawmakers told media outlets that Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the details of the leaked plan. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but instead a "wish list of the Russians", according to Senator Angus King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Confronts Crucial Deadline

Nevertheless, the former president has set Zelenskyy until Thursday for signing this multi-point agreement. The document requires Ukraine to give up territory under its control to Russia, reduce its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. Additionally, it rules out international peacekeepers and sanctions for atrocities committed by Russia.

In a sombre address last Friday, the Ukrainian leader warned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision over the coming days between preserving the nation's honor and losing a major partner in the shape of the US. He admitted that Ukraine is experiencing one of the most difficult moments historically.

Ukraine's Dialogue Team Formed for Upcoming Meetings

Speaking this weekend, Zelenskyy emphasized that real or respectable peace depends on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, appointed through a decree, which will meet its US counterparts in Geneva, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member from Ukraine's team, former defence minister and national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, stated there would be 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 represents a continuation of recent discussions focused on harmonizing our plans for future actions."

International 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 made clear he cannot give up the nation's independence or abandon the constitutional framework that protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council released a collective declaration opposing the proposed deal, saying it requires "additional work". 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 put conditions on its future EU accession.

Citizen Opinion in Ukraine's Capital

Ukrainian reaction to the proposal, prepared by Putin’s envoy and Trump’s representative, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: targeting not just Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a public figure involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal came from a similar category, where the affected party is asked "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

On social media, he said his anger by the complete pardon for Russian atrocities. It was an insult those who sought shelter in affected cities – sites of civilian executions – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russian territory. A deeply cynical deal, he concluded.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Dmytro Sariskyi, 21, commented that Russia has attempted to dominate Ukraine "for years". It conceded very little in the Trump agreement 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 Kyiv would be forced to sacrifice its liberties, he added. If it didn’t, the US would most likely break off cooperation and intelligence sharing, a vital resource of military intelligence for Ukraine's forces. "There is no good way out of this for now," he noted.

Diverse Perspectives from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. It belongs to Ukraine." She said that the president is intelligent and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

While speaking during rainfall, near a historical monument, Ivanovna mentioned her appreciation to the former US leader for his attempts to broker peace. She said that the nation ought to consider ceding Crimea and the eastern Donbas region temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she proposed.

EU Officials Condemn the Plan

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned the plan. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a disaster, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for "all of the democratic world". She warned if Western nations display vulnerability – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, 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. A critical juncture for the European Union."