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Reports of an impending American-Russian leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he declared.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel since his first term, encompassing his decision to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.