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Reports of an impending American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

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 US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, including his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may in fact be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

But the Ukrainian leader later made note of the sequence of events.

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

Thus, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.