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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

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

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in the US state just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

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

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

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

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.