🔗 Share this article

Ex-leader Donald Trump indicated this past weekend that the Moscow-drafted proposal for peace was not his ultimate proposal, after strong backlash from Ukrainian officials and analysts that likened it to the 1938 Munich agreement between Chamberlain and Hitler.

During short remarks at the White House, Trump told journalists: Our goal is to achieve 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."

Forthcoming Switzerland Talks Involve Multiple Nations

Ukrainian and American officials will meet in Switzerland on Sunday for discussions on this proposal. Security officials from France, Britain and Germany will also participate in the talks there.

Ahead of these discussions, US senators told the press that State Department head Marco Rubio reached out to them during his travel to Geneva to clarify the details of this disclosed proposal. He said, the proposal did not originate from the administration but rather reflected Russian desires, according to Senator Angus King, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Zelenskyy Faces Critical Deadline

However, the former president has set Volodymyr Zelenskyy a deadline of Thursday to sign the 28-point document. The document requires Ukraine to give up territory under its control to Moscow, reduce its military forces, and surrender advanced weaponry. It also rules out international peacekeepers and sanctions for Russian war crimes.

During a solemn address last Friday, Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine confronts an impossible choice in the near future between keeping the nation's honor and losing key ally in the shape of the US. Zelenskyy acknowledged that it faces an extremely challenging period historically.

Ukrainian Negotiating Delegation Formed for Geneva Talks

Speaking on Saturday, the president said that real or respectable resolution was always based on "guaranteed security and justice". He announced a delegation, appointed through a decree, which will meet American representatives in Switzerland, headed by his chief of staff Yermak.

Another member of the Ukrainian delegation, former defence minister and security council official Rustem Umerov, said there would be discussions with Washington "on the possible parameters of a future peace agreement".

Suggesting limits, Umerov added: 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."

Global Reaction and Concerns

The Ukrainian president has attempted to engage constructively with the US administration apparently intent 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 protects Ukraine's territorial integrity.

During a summit in South Africa, leaders from the G20 and the European Council issued a collective declaration pushing back on the proposed deal, saying it requires further refinement. The statement indicated that EU and Nato members must be involved regarding certain clauses, that exclude Ukraine's NATO accession and impose terms on its future EU accession.

Citizen Views in Kyiv

Responses from Ukrainians to the text, drawn up by Putin’s envoy and a US delegate, have been largely negative. Commentators argued it outlined a plan for another Russian invasion: not only of Ukraine but other European regions too.

Mustafa Nayyem, a public figure involved in the 2014 Maidan protests, said it invited parallels with Chamberlain’s infamous Munich deal. The proposal belonged to a similar category, with the victim invited "to formulate his own defeat so everyone else can live easier".

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 affected cities – where Russian troops executed hundreds of civilians – and for those whose children had been forcibly deported to Russia. A deeply cynical deal, he stated.

In an interview in a Kyiv subway station, Sariskyi, 21, said that Russia 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 sacrifice its liberties, he added. If rejected, the US might cease collaboration and intelligence exchange, a vital resource of battlefield information for Ukraine's forces. Currently, there is no favorable solution, he remarked.

Varied Viewpoints from Ukrainian Citizens

A different commuter, teenager Sofia Barchan, asserted that Ukraine would "keep strong" without American support. "We will fight for as long as it takes. Crimea and the eastern regions are part of Ukraine. It belongs to Ukraine." She said Zelenskyy was a "smart person" and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.

Speaking during rainfall, next to a replica of Kyiv’s original medieval gate, Ivanovna mentioned she was grateful to the former US leader for his peace-making efforts. She suggested that Ukraine should be ready ceding certain regions temporarily if it ensured maintaining US support. The president should conduct a public vote on this matter, she proposed.

EU Officials Condemn the Proposal

Previous European leaders have roundly condemned this proposal. Finland’s former prime minister Marin described it as a catastrophe, not only for Ukraine and Ukrainians but for democracies worldwide. She said if the west showed weakness and ignorance – similar to the 2014 Crimea annexation – "more aggression and conflicts" would follow.

Belgium's ex-PM, Guy Verhofstadt, referenced Churchill’s definition regarding appeasement as someone who accommodates an aggressor. He continued: "Trump now takes Putin’s side. Europe faces a choice between compromise and principles. A critical juncture for the European Union."