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

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another twist in Trump's attempts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed 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 possible for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a position that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may actually be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

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

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he said.

But the president of Ukraine later made note of the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a short period, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, admitting that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

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