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Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is another development in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

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

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his first term, including his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position 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 agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the face of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

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

During the summer, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

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

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently 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 almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he said.

So, in a short period, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that commitment, admitting that concluding the war is proving harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, give up the fight.