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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump said he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is another development in the president's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of supporting Israel since his first term, encompassing his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he said.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.