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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," 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 transpires."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine 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 warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

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

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.