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Reports of an impending American-Russian presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to commemorate that truce deal, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

However, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - only to then retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

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

In July, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he said.

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

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately pressuring Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

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

During his election campaign previously, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.