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Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

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

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine 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.

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

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

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

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that commitment, admitting that ending the war is proving harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.