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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

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

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

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

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but gave the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

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

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

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

The US leader insisted that he was not being played 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 remarked.

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

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

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

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.