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Accounts of an impending US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he planned to confer with Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

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

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of supporting Israel since his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

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

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

The president loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

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

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

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

But the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating 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 abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, give up the fight.