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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

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

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in the president's efforts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate 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 Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, including his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to change America's position 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, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

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

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated all my life 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 little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.