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Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want 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 postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of siding with the Israeli state since his first term, including his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, Trump has much less leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to meet and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

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

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

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

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, admitting 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 peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.