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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington without results

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

During a speech in Egypt last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter 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 American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

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

The president often boasts about his ability to meet and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a peaceful end.

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

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

But the president of Ukraine later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, the president has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.