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

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost several years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a history of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"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 commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, admitting that ending the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

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, cease hostilities.