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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership summit have been overstated, it seems.

Just 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 put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in the president's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, including his choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump 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 minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the war any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he said.

But the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that commitment, admitting that ending the war is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.