KYIV (Reuters) -- Ukrainian 
President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked European leaders on Sunday for backing his demand for a seat at the table as Russia and the United States prepare for a summit this week where Kyiv fears they could seek to dictate terms to it for ending the 3-1/2-year war.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who for weeks had been threatening new sanctions against Russia, announced instead last Friday that he would hold an August 15 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
A White House official said on Saturday that Trump was open to Zelensky attending, but that preparations currently were for a bilateral meeting with Putin.
The Kremlin leader last week ruled out meeting Zelensky at this point, saying the conditions for such an encounter were “unfortunately still far” from being met.
Trump said a potential deal would involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both (sides)”, a statement that compounded Ukrainian alarm that it may face pressure to surrender more land.
Zelensky says any decisions taken without Ukraine will be “stillborn” and unworkable. On Saturday the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said in a joint statement that any diplomatic solution must protect the vital security interests of Ukraine and Europe.
A European official said Europe had come up with a counter-proposal to Trump’s, but declined to provide details. Russian officials accused Europe of trying to thwart Trump’s efforts to end the war.
“The Euro-imbeciles are trying to prevent American efforts to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev posted on social media on Sunday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a vituperative statement that the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union resembled “necrophilia”.
Roman Alekhin, a Russian war blogger, said Europe had been reduced to the role of a spectator. “If Putin and Trump reach an agreement directly, Europe will be faced with a fait accompli. Kyiv - even more so,” he said.
Russia holds about a fifth of the country and has claimed the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia as its own, although it controls only about 70% of the last three.