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Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another twist in Trump's efforts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine 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 skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

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

During the summer, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he said.

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

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.