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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in the president's attempts to mediate an end to war in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element 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 provided Trump leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business 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, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to meet 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.

Putin may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

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

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

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

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, the president has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump 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 turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when neither side wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.