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

Just days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged 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 turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he declared.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

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

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports 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 war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Putin consented to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

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

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a short period, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.