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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump said he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial 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 reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in the president's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader 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 choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, 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 American leader, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

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

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

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

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

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is proving 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 both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.