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

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader 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 two nations' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed 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 arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that truce deal, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

Trump often boasts about his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

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

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, admitting that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.