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

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country recently to commemorate that truce deal, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the war any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he said.

But the president of Ukraine later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit 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 ultimately decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is proving harder than he expected.

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