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Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in the president's attempts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – 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 abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to back off in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he said.

But the Ukrainian leader later commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, saying that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, give up the fight.