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Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

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

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, 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 called the US president who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

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

He has finally decided on calling for a ceasefire along current battle lines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving 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 neither side wants, or is able to, give up the fight.