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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

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

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

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is another development in the president's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the face of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a summit in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

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

The US leader 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 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 us – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a short period, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when neither side desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.