🔗 Share this article

Ex-leader Trump remarked this past weekend that his Moscow-drafted peace plan was not his ultimate proposal, following fierce criticism from Ukrainian leaders and analysts that likened it to a Munich pact of 1938 involving Neville Chamberlain and Hitler.

During brief remarks from the White House, the US president 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 Geneva Talks Include Various Nations

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

Prior to these discussions, US senators told the press that State Department head Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Switzerland to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. According to him, this plan did not originate from the administration but rather a "wish list of the Russians", as reported by independent Maine senator Angus King, a member on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Ukraine's President Faces Crucial Time Limit

Nevertheless, the former president has given Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. It calls on Ukraine to give up territory it currently controls to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender long-range weapons. Additionally, it rules out international peacekeepers and penalties for Russian war crimes.

In a sombre speech last Friday, the Ukrainian leader cautioned that Ukraine confronts a difficult decision over the coming days involving keeping the nation's honor 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 Geneva Meetings

Speaking on Saturday, Zelenskyy said that real or respectable resolution was always based on assured safety and fairness. He revealed a negotiating team, established by presidential decree, that would soon meet American representatives in Switzerland, led by top aide Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, ex-defense head and national security council secretary Rustem 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 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 Response and Criticism

Zelenskyy has sought to engage constructively with a White House seemingly determined to resolve the war on the Kremlin’s one-sided terms. He has emphasized he cannot give up Ukraine’s sovereignty or abandon the constitutional framework that enshrines Ukraine's territorial integrity.

At a meeting held in South Africa, G20 leaders and EU representatives issued a joint statement opposing Trump’s plan, saying it needs "additional work". It said that members of the EU and NATO would need to be consulted on some of its provisions, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its European Union membership.

Public Views in Kyiv

Ukrainian reaction to the text, drawn up by a Russian representative and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Analysts argued it was a blueprint for further Russian aggression: not only of Ukraine but of other parts of Europe too.

Nayyem, a journalist and politician involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, remarked it drew comparisons with the Munich Agreement. The proposal came from the same "recognisable genre", with the victim invited to outline its own surrender for broader convenience.

In a Facebook post, he 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 Russia. "A rather cynical agreement," he concluded.

In an interview in Kyiv’s Golden Gate metro station, Sariskyi, a young adult, commented that Moscow had been trying to control Ukraine politically and territorially over many years. It conceded very little in the Trump agreement and continued to keep its forces on Ukrainian soil. In my view, this deal aims to undermine Ukraine and impose unfair terms, he remarked.

Should Ukraine accept the terms it would be compelled to sacrifice its liberties, he added. 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.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

Another passenger, 19-year-old Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would remain resilient without American support. We will continue our struggle as needed. Our territory will remain our territory, including Crimea and the east. They are Ukrainian land." She expressed Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and forecasted he would not cede territory.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Olena Ivanovna said her appreciation to Trump for his attempts to broker peace. She suggested that Ukraine ought to consider ceding certain regions for a limited time if it meant keeping America as a partner. "President Zelenskyy should hold a referendum and ask the people," she said.

EU Officials Condemn the Plan

Former European heads of state have roundly condemned this proposal. 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 said if Western nations display vulnerability – as it did in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea – "more aggression and conflicts" could arise.

The former prime minister of Belgium, Verhofstadt, quoted a statement by Churchill of an appeaser as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe must choose again: appeasement or our values, imperialism or freedom. Another moment of truth for our [European] union."