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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to confer with Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his first term, including his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

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

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill 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 closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The following day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

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

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.