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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is just the latest development in the president's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less leverage. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions 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 world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - 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 skill to meet and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the war any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

But the president of Ukraine later commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a short period, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.