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Accounts of an impending American-Russian leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to confer with 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 called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

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

The on-again, off-again meeting is another development in the president's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get Russia done," he said.

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader 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 further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may actually be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

But the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

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

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal Russia 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 commitment, saying that concluding the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

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