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

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir 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' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the key 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 the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position 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 diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the face of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance 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 in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the president of Ukraine later made note of the timeline of developments.

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

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.