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

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the White House 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 shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of siding with the Israeli state since his first term, including his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a summit in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

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

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

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.