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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended 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 get-together by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.

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

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out successfully," he said.

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

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a short period, Trump 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 privately urging the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.