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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country last week to celebrate that truce deal, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a deal was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel since his first term, including his decision to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

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

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

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

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

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult 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 can afford to, cease hostilities.