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Accounts of an impending American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

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

The on-again, off-again summit is another twist in the president's attempts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along current battle lines – something the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that commitment, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.