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Reports of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

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

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

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in the president's attempts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a history of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the face of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a peaceful end.

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

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

But the president of Ukraine later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something 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 since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.