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Reports of an impending US-Russia presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in the president's efforts to mediate an end to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to commemorate that truce deal, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he said.

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

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

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

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the war any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader called the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he said.

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

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that ending the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.