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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he planned to meet 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 preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

However, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost 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 angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

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

The US leader has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt 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 whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Zelensky at the White House, but left empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that commitment, saying that ending the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.