WASHINGTON/KYIV — US President Donald Trump said Saturday that his Moscow-drafted “peace plan” for Ukraine is “not my final offer,” amid widespread criticism from Ukrainians who compared it to the 1938 Munich Agreement with Hitler.
Trump told reporters at the White House, “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 we have to get it ended.”
Ukrainian and US officials will meet in Geneva on Sunday to discuss the plan, with security representatives from France, Britain, and Germany expected to join. In advance of the talks, US senators said Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted them while en route to Geneva, clarifying that the leaked proposal “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians,” according to Senator Angus King.
Trump has set a Thursday deadline for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign the 28-point document, which requires Kyiv to give up territory, reduce its army, relinquish long-range weapons, and forgo a European peacekeeping force and sanctions for Russian war crimes.
Zelenskyy warned Friday that Ukraine faces a stark choice between maintaining national dignity and preserving its partnership with the United States. He stressed that any “dignified” peace must guarantee security and justice. Zelenskyy has appointed a negotiating team led by Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, with former defense minister Rustem Umerov emphasizing that Ukraine will consult Washington while protecting its core interests.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that Ukraine cannot compromise its sovereignty or abandon its constitutionally enshrined borders. A joint statement from G20 leaders and the European Council criticized the plan, saying it requires additional work and consultation with NATO and EU members, as it bars Kyiv’s NATO membership and sets conditions on its EU accession.
Reaction in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly hostile. Journalists and politicians likened the plan to a blueprint for Ukraine’s defeat and a potential precedent for further Russian aggression in Europe. Mustafa Nayyem, a leader of Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy Maidan movement, condemned the proposal’s full amnesty for Russian war crimes as insulting to victims of Bucha and Mariupol.
Public sentiment in Kyiv is divided. Some, like Dmytro Sariskyi, see the plan as an attempt to force unjust conditions on Ukraine, while others, like Olena Ivanovna, expressed cautious support if temporary concessions could preserve US partnership.
European leaders have also criticized the plan. Former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin called it a catastrophe for Ukraine and the democratic world, warning that appeasement would encourage further aggression. Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said Trump had sided with Putin and called on Europe to choose between appeasement or defending freedom.
As Ukrainian and US officials prepare for Geneva talks, the fate of the peace plan remains uncertain, with Zelenskyy under pressure to balance national sovereignty against international diplomacy.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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