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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is another development in the president's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that truce deal, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he said.

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

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

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

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.