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

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, too.

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

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

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

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

"We have to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

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

Trump has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader called Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the war is proving harder than he expected.

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