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Accounts of an impending American-Russian leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' top 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 don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt last week to commemorate that truce deal, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

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

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, admitting that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.