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Accounts of an impending US-Russia presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he planned 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 preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to broker an end to war in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

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

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, 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, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public 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 area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then back off in the wake of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader called Trump who then promoted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he said.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.