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Reports of an impending American-Russian presidential meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary 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 told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

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

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a long record of siding with Israel since his first term, including his decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

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

However the president of Ukraine later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. 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 both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.