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

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia done," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be using 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 seemed probable that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

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

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately pressuring Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

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