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Reports of an impending US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to celebrate that truce deal, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly 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 Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his ability to meet and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may actually be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Putin consented to a summit in the US state just as it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out successfully," he said.

But the president of Ukraine later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.