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

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

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

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in the president's attempts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war 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 the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president'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, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.