Ukraine and its backers in Europe insist that the United States and Russia cannot decide on land swaps behind their backs at a summit this week, but the Europeans concede that Moscow is unlikely to give up control of Ukrainian land it holds.

Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on Friday to try to resolve the three-year war but the EU has insisted that Kyiv and European powers should be part of any deal to end the conflict.

The Kremlin leader believes time is on his side as the exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances.