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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

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

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country 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 said.

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

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a long record of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with 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 force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any closer to 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.

During the summer, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out really well," he said.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

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

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.