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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

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

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in the president's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

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

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a position that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader 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 emerged really well," he remarked.

But the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along current battle lines – something the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or is able to, give up the fight.