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Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to mediate an end to war in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a position that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports 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 intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

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

The Russian president may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called Trump who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

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

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, give up the fight.