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Reports of an impending American-Russian leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, 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 high-level talks 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 fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another twist in the president's attempts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

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

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

However, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to meet and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a short period, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that concluding the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

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