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Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

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

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of supporting Israel since his first term, including his choice to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

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

During the summer, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

But the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.