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

Just days after President Trump said he planned to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, including his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

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

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

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when neither side wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.