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Accounts of an impending US-Russia presidential meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is another development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter 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, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

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

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

The US leader has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the nation - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to meet and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - 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 Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

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