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

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader 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, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

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

Putin may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

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

The US leader maintained 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 really well," he said.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he said.

So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, give up the fight.