🔗 Share this article

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

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that truce deal, the president addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"It is essential to get Russia done," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

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

Add in Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the face of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

The president 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.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

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

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along current battle lines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that ending the war is turning out harder than he anticipated.

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