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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 Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing summit is another twist in the president's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that truce deal, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel since his first term, encompassing his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded 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 area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties 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 global economy and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

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

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by the Russian president.

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

But the Ukrainian leader later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been unable to conquer.

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

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.