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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The frequently changing summit is another twist in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of siding with Israel dating back to his first term, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, 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.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.