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Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian presidential meeting have been overstated, it seems.

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

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another twist in Trump's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, 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 connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has much less influence. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any closer to a peaceful end.

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

In July, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

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

The next day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

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

However the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, give up the fight.