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

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

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

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

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

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position 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, actually, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that gave him 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 wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

The president loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

Putin may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called Trump who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the president of Ukraine later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – including land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently 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, give up the fight.