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Reports of an impending US-Russia presidential summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with 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 both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another twist in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his choice to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Add in Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened 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 harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments 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 loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a peaceful end.

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

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a truce along current battle lines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or is able to, give up the fight.