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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced 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 initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is another development in the president's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of supporting Israel since his first term, including his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

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

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

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

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.