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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

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

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest development in the president's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get Russia done," he declared.

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

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

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

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

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

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, saying that concluding the war is proving harder than he expected.

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