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Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

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

The frequently changing summit is another twist in Trump's efforts to broker an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and suspending arms shipments to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

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

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.