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Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian presidential meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump said he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

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

• Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is another development in the president's efforts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

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

The US leader insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader later made note of the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, saying that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.