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Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with 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 initial get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest twist in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

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

"We have to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

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

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

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

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

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically 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 Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.