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Accounts of an impending American-Russian leadership summit have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to meet Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to commemorate that truce deal, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

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

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, including his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader 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 bill was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping 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 Budapest.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

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

"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

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

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

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

During his election campaign previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when both parties desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.