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

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in Trump's efforts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia done," he said.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state 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 Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

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

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - then to back off in the wake of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to meet and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

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

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

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.