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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to meet Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

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

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

"We have to get the Russian situation resolved," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump 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 came out successfully," he remarked.

But the president of Ukraine later commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that ending the war is proving 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 is able to, give up the fight.