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Reports of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader called the US president who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

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

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.