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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump announced he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "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 Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing 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 whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

Putin may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

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

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out successfully," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.