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

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get Russia resolved," he said.

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's move to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with Israel since his first term, encompassing his choice 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 Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending 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 entire region.

The president often boasts about his skill to meet and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact 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 high-level meeting in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader later made note of the timeline of developments.

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

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, saying that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.